This book takes place a few months after the final episode of the Monk TV series and is written from Natalie's perspective. Monk investigates a series of murders and meets a group of crime scene cleaners, who he views as kindred spirits, while Natalie feels compelled to learn more about the life and death of a man both Monk and Stottlemeyer say died of natural causes.

The used bookstore I bought this from had a bunch of Mr. Monk mysteries, and, if I remember right, I pretty much grabbed this one at random. I didn't realize it was the twelfth book in the series, and the second book set after the series finale. I'm extremely behind on the series - I can't remember exactly when I stopped watching, but I know I definitely haven't seen any of the episodes in the last two or three seasons.

Although I googled a few characters I was unfamiliar with (Monk's new psychiatrist, Lieutenant Devlin), I didn't feel like the gap in my Monk viewing hurt my reading experience much. I do think it helped that I started re-watching Season 4 of the TV series soon after starting the book. It got me in the right mood and gave me a reminder of what everyone looked like and how they tended to behave. I had somehow forgotten how self-centered and casually awful Monk could be. Yeesh. I'm glad the TV series reminded me of that before I got to the bit in the book where Monk crashed a group therapy session because he couldn't handle his brother suddenly having a sex life.

Parts of this book were perfect. The scene with Monk, Stottlemeyer, and the badly parked police cars was great, and I loved Monk's interactions with the crime scene cleaners. I'm actually kind of surprised that crime scene cleaning never came up in the show at all. Maybe too gross or gory to have on-screen?

Unfortunately, the book's various mysteries didn't intrigue me much. I figured out part of what was going on with Monk's murders well before it was revealed. The way Devlin and Natalie set their part up was interesting, at least, but I had a tough time believing that Monk would quietly allow himself to be involved, even if only a little.

Natalie's investigation into Jack Griffin's death bored me and, after a certain point, struck me as being a terrible idea. Although I appreciated her insights into the way Monk's way of doing things differed from regular detective work, it didn't make her painstaking efforts to track down where Jack Griffin's old photo might have been taken any less tedious. Ambrose and his new girlfriend/assistant Yuki got a few mentions, as they helped Natalie with her research, and Natalie spent some time evaluating her life and the sort of future she might have if she wasn't Monk's assistant. It wasn't necessarily bad, but I don't know that it was worth the amount of pages it took up.

I'm enjoying getting back into the TV series and will probably continue working my way through the seasons, assuming it stays on Amazon Prime long enough. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to read more books from this series. It did feel, at times, like reading an episode of the show, so it had that going for it.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Detective William Monk wakes up in a hospital and suffers from amnesia after meeting an accident. At the same time, he is in a middle of a crime investigation. He tries to piece his past and the crimes almost simultaneously until he remembers an event that would possibly put him as a murder suspect 

The Warrior Monk is part of a series of short stories accompanying the Seventeen series, and this particular story is best read after the second book: King's Crusade. In fact, I wouldn't start these short stories without having read the main series.

It focuses on the events that led to Alexa and Yonten meeting each other. While it provides some new insights into the background of the story, it was also a little bit repetitive with the story in the main series. It was also rather short (even for a short story), but nice to read nevertheless.

A very intense plot involving two story arcs that do merge. The first is about a missing widow, Miriam Gardiner, who has vanished on the day that she is celebrating her engagement to young Lucius Stourbridge. Missing along with her is the family coachman along with the carriage and horses. When the man is found with his head bashed in, suspicions fall on Miriam, being the last person to see him alive, but when Lucius' mother is found in her bedroom with her head crushed, Miriam is arrested. And she appears doomed to hang -- for she will say nothing in her defense. In a parallel tale, Hester is continuing to volunteer at the hospital but her attempts to modernize the care for patients and nurses' training is halted by a bureaucratic director. Then she finds out that one of the nurses is stealing morphine. Does Hester turn her in, or will she try to find the real truth? It's a fairly good novel, and has a nicely complex plot, but the reason why this didn't get five stars was that I was able to figure out who did the killing early on. I hate it when that happens. Overall four stars and a recommendation. Oh yes -- Hester and Monk have finally married.

For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Anne_Perry_The_Twisted_Root_epi/content_642647887492

Eighth in the William Monk series by Anne Perry, and I have to say, it's a good one. Starting in January 1860, two men are found in St. Giles, one of London's most notorious slums,. One is Leighton Duff, a respected business man, and the other is Rhys, his son. Both have been very badly beaten, and while Leighton is dead, Rhys is still clinging to life. Hester Latterly is brought to the Duff home to nurse Rhys back to health, but there is a serious problem -- Rhys is mute from the experience...

On the other side of London, William Monk has been hired by Vida Hopgood, a sweatshop owner, to discover who it is that is raping and beating her employees. The rapists are no respecter of age -- two little girls are among the victims, and the residents of the Seven Dials would be more than happy to take matters into their own hands ...

I did like this one. While the subject matter is certainly awful enough, Perry cleverly doesn't over focus on it, but instead on the hypocritical attitude that Victorians had about women and social class. And there's also quite a bit about poverty and the horrendous conditions of London's poor. On a personal level, Hester and Monk keep up their running battle of words, Sir Oliver is apparently courting Hester, and a good deal of the cause for Monk's animosity towards Runcorn is revealed.

This one gets a hearty four stars from me along with a recommend. Fans of the series should find this one worth the trouble to read.