"The Inspector Lynley Mysteries" For the Sake of Elena (TV Episode 2002) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
3 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
8/10
An excellent mystery.
Sleepin_Dragon25 March 2021
A party loving, smart deaf girl is murdered whilst jogging, Lynley and Havers are on the case, but is it an isolated incident. I think that this is the best of the early Inspector Lynley Mysteries, it's a cracking mystery, with a smart plot, satisfying conclusion, and a terrific set of characters. There is just the right amount of personal problems for both Detectives, with Havers having to try and work, and deal with her poor mum. Cambridge looks magical, fans of the Granchester series will recognise some of the side streets used. The acting is first class, Tim Piggot Smith, Selina Cadell, and Sophie Ward. Twenty years on, and Sophie Ward's character Justine, still looks so very modern, great actress, and so very beautiful. Thoroughly enjoyed this, 8/10.
8 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
good
blanche-223 June 2012
"For the Sake of Elena" is one of the early Inspector Lynley mysteries, and I liked it. It's hard not to like something when you're looking at Nathaniel Parker, for one thing. For another, I didn't read the book.

A young woman jogger is found dead, and Lynley (Parker) and Havers(Sharon Small) are on the scene investigating. The murdered woman was completely deaf. Her father, a Cambridge professor (Tim Piggott-Smith) is devastated, as is her mother (Selena Cadell). Divorced from her husband, she is both devastated and bitter about the fact that her ex-husband remarried the elegant Justine (Sophie Ward).

As Lynley and Havers go further into the investigation, they find plenty of suspects: a professor at the school whom the victim was reporting for sexual harassment; an ambitious young man whom she rejected; her tutor; and possibly a few others. Elena Weaver loved to party, loved to "shag" and didn't take any of it as seriously as some of her partners.

Secrets are unraveled while the two detectives sort out their personal lives: Parker is trying to work out things with Helen (Lesley Vickerage) - frankly, I think he can do better; and Havers has to make a decision regarding her demented mother.

All in all, very absorbing.
9 out of 10 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Should Have Been Painted
tedg10 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Some of these are excellent, and some poor. This is a poor one, I'm afraid.

The mystery involves a fold of sorts, all is motivated, we learn, by an artist and in a way her art is the body. The book made more of the fact that the professor here was an expert in transferred symbols, and that's a main dynamic in the mystery.

Those two facts are why I tagged this as having spoilers.

There's a third dynamic she folds in, the notion that the corpse who "speaks" is deaf so unable to speak well. In life, she speaks via sex. It parallels the notion in the book that the story is presented cinematically, rather than by having one cop "explain" things to another.

So three folds in the original story. Bluntly noted and defused in the TeeVee-ization.

It would have been so east too. Its a tale of strong, strong, damaged women orbiting each other and wreaking tidal havoc in their lives and the ones they encounter. Its a twist on the small house setup. We know that one of the three women we are introduced to did it. One of them surely. But why? Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
6 out of 23 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed