For the Sake of Elena
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

When student Elena Weaver jogs across a bridge spanning the River Cam and stumbles into a fatal ambush, a summons goes out to Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley. George has detailed him to dig into homicides four times before (most recently in A Suitable Vengeance) and has earned an expectant readership ready to be regaled by arch characterization, elegantly applied detail, and a horse race among candidates for the villain. With his "proletarian sidekick" Barbara Havers serving as a foil to the aristocratic dons lurking around the gothic spires of Cambridge U., Inspector Lynley interviews those who knew the victim, who emerges as casting a rather salacious spell on all men who met her. In fact, a tangled skein of extracurricular boffing emerges, whose weathervane circumstances in turn point to a radical-chic Shakespearean, a love-struck hearing-impaired student, Elena's tight-lipped and icy stepmother, and so on. A lesbian complication arises when another jogger catches a chestful of lead, and George ostensibly sends things off on a tangent by having Lynley moon over aloof Lady Helen. Ah, but that dance of romance (presumably to be continued in the next mystery) helps connect a bit of artistic evidence to a painter who happened to discover Elena's bludgeoned body at the outset. There's a spurned lover somewhere in this fog-enshrouded stage, and the dendritic plot channels the whodunnit connoisseur by eddies and torrents toward an unexpected culprit. (Reviewed May 1, 1992)0553081187Gilbert Taylor

Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley of New Scotland Yard investigates murder at Cambridge University as he continues his suit for the love of Lady Helen in George's ( A Suitable Vengeance ) latest well-crafted mystery. The high-born Lynley and his sergeant, Barbara Havers, whose personal dilemmas revolve around choosing adequate care for her increasingly senile mother, are sent to advise the Cambridge constabulary after student Elena Weaver, a long-distance runner and daughter of highly respected university history professor Anthony Weaver, is found battered to death near a running path. As the investigation reveals that Elena, who was deaf, was not at all the innocent naif her doting father imagined, Lynley comes to understand Lady Helen's deep-rooted questions about their relationship and their individual independence. Another murder occurs and assorted extracurricular passions among prominent academics are bared; George also explores such issues as whether deafness is a cultural stigma or a genuine handicap, the nature of family identity and betrayal, and the imperatives of the creative temperament. While elements of the plot are somewhat stretched, George's story never fails to engage. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo . (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The fifth outing for Scotland Yard's Inspector Lynley (rich, sleek aristocrat) and Sergeant Havers (rough-edged, bitter plain- Jane)--this time called up to Cambridge to investigate the brutal murder of a sexy, unstable, deaf student. Who ambushed Elena Weaver during one of her usual early- morning runs and pummeled her to death? Suspects abound--especially once an autopsy reveals that Elena was pregnant. She had accused one teacher of sexual harassment, had been having an affair with another (married) one. She'd also been involved with a deaf-rights activist. Meanwhile, she was having stormy times with her overprotective father, a Cambridge don hoping for a major new appointment, and with her edgy stepmother. And is it just coincidence that the woman who finds Elena's body, an important local artist, was the sometime mistress of Elena's father? As usual, George lays on the psychosexual Sturm und Drang with a sure, if slightly heavy, hand; the dialogue occasionally thickens into awkward, stagy speeches. Also as usual, the sleuths contend with personal anguish: Havers must deal with a senile mum; Lynley continues his tediously drawn-out courtship of Lady Helen--an overwrought imitation of Lord Peter and Miss Vane. But, though uneven and puffy, this is George's best work since her debut (A Great Deliverance)--a generally absorbing job in the P.D. James manner, without the excesses and missteps of the other Lynley/Havers outings.

Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley of New Scotland Yard investigates murder at Cambridge University as he continues his suit for the love of Lady Helen in George's ( A Suitable Vengeance ) latest well-crafted mystery. The high-born Lynley and his sergeant, Barbara Havers, whose personal dilemmas revolve around choosing adequate care for her increasingly senile mother, are sent to advise the Cambridge constabulary after student Elena Weaver, a long-distance runner and daughter of highly respected university history professor Anthony Weaver, is found battered to death near a running path. As the investigation reveals that Elena, who was deaf, was not at all the innocent naif her doting father imagined, Lynley comes to understand Lady Helen's deep-rooted questions about their relationship and their individual independence. Another murder occurs and assorted extracurricular passions among prominent academics are bared; George also explores such issues as whether deafness is a cultural stigma or a genuine handicap, the nature of family identity and betrayal, and the imperatives of the creative temperament. While elements of the plot are somewhat stretched, George's story never fails to engage. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo . (July) Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information.