For the Sake of Elena

By: Elizabeth George

Narrated by: Derek Jacobi

Length: 3 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Elena Weaver was a surprise to anyone meeting her for the first time. In her clingy dresses and dangling earrings, she exuded a sexuality at odds with the innocence projected by the unicorn posters on her walls. While her embittered mother fretted about her welfare from her home in London, in Cambridge - where Elena was a student at St. Stephen's College - her father and his second wife each had their own very different image of the girl.

As for Elena, she lived a life of casual and intense physical and emotional relationships, with scores to settle and goals to achieve - until someone, lying in wait along the route she ran every morning, bludgeoned her to death.

Unwilling to turn the killing over to the local police, the university calls in New Scotland Yard. Thus, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, enter the rarefied world of Cambridge University, where academic gowns often hide murderous intentions.

For both officers, the true identity of Elena Weaver proves elusive. Each relationship the girl left behind casts new light both on Elena and on those people who appeared to know her best - from an unsavory Swedish-born Shakespearean professor to the brooding head of the Deaf Students Union.

What's more, Elena's father, a Cambridge professor under consideration for a prestigious post, is a man with his own dark secrets. While his past sins make him neurotically dedicated to Elena and blind to her blacker side, present demons drive him toward betrayal.

©1992 Susan Elizabeth George (P)1992 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"George's best work since her debut." (Kirkus Reviews)

"If you're already a fan, just know that Elizabeth George is getting better and better. Carve out some time one weekend soon, stake out a cozy chair and wallow in her best yet." (Denver Post)

"Powerful and deeply affecting, For the Sake of Elena is another satisfying addition to this superb series." (The Sun, Baltimore)

poor audio performance

I was not impressed with the narrator for this book, nor with the background music, etc., which I found rather cheesy.

I hate abrudged books!!

I've no idea why Audible has so many holes in this series...an 8 to 10 HR book in 3 hours? Especially an Elizabeth George novel. Ridiculous. in my I were able to sit down I would read the ebooks. derek Jacobi is not as good as the marvelous Sabina Porter, but better in this one than the previous one. I always have to set the speed at 85 or so--it's like he thinks the abridged version is still not short enough. sorry about mistakes--on phone and no glasses!

Would never have purchased if I realized it was abridged

This story in abridged form was nothing in comparison to Elizabeth George’s full stories. A waste of an audible credit. Indifferent and impersonal narration.

Incomprehensible nonsense

You Can Not condense a book like this. Nothing made sense, Huge plot points omitted, nothing explained. This was a complete waste of time and an insult to the author and her work.

An Unfair Abridgement!

What disappointed you about For the Sake of Elena?

Elizabeth George writes complex mysteries that should not be abridged. This was an especially bad job. If you like George's work, buy another. If you don't know her yet, buy another--this is not a good introduction.

Not Even a Short Story

This was the first abridged book I've read, and it will be the last. In the unabridged form, Elizabeth George's books are an all around wonderful experience. In this case, the story and characters were so underdeveloped, that it wasn't even like reading a short story. The music didn't help to fill in the gaps where the writing should have been, it just made it sound tacky.
What is the point in making a book abridged, when all it does is detract from what would be best seller?

"For the Sake of Elena".

Not worth the listen. Too choppy. Disliked the narrator. An unabridged version may have been better.

Didn’t realize this was the condensed version

Really not the same as the other George audio books I’ve listened to. I was quite disappointed.