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.)

Notes:

- Monk has met some crime scene cleaners, and it's a match made in heaven. If he could, he'd have them clean any room he ever had to stay in. How is it that this series went 8 seasons without something like this happening? It really is perfect.

- Monk's brother, Ambrose, still can't leave the house without being sedated first, but he now has a girlfriend and a sex life. Monk is completely thrown.

- Oh man, I forgot that Dr. Kroger (and the actor who played him) died. The reminder made me sad. I don't think I've ever seen any of the episodes with Monk's new psychiatrist.

- I've rediscovered my love of the show and have been steadily working my way through Season 4, the first full season with Natalie. This book would feel like an episode of the TV series, except it's entirely from Natalie's perspective.

My internet was being ridiculous the other day (0 to 511 Kbps!), or I'd have already posted this a couple days ago:

The situation: some police cars aren't parked neatly, and it's bothering Monk. I can absolutely picture this scene happening in the show.

"'I'll send some uniforms over to repark the vehicles, okay? Will you come with us now, please?'

 

'I could direct the operation,' Monk said.

 

'I would prefer you investigated the murder,' Stottlemeyer said.

 

'It won't be easy to do with all of that going on,' Monk said, waving his hand toward the cars.

 

'You'll just draw on your vast reserve of inner strength and deal with it,' Stottlemeyer said, holding up the tape and waving Monk over. 'Come on already, we got a body on the street here and the medical examiner is anxious to take it to the morgue.'

 

'How about if we compromise?' Monk said. 'I'll oversee the parking of the cars and then investigate the murder.'

 

'How about this,' Stottlemeyer said. 'You get over here right now or I'll spit on the sidewalk.'

 

'You wouldn't dare,' Monk said.

 

'Try me,' Stottlemeyer said and looked him right in the eye.

 

Monk squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and stepped under the police tape.

 

'I'm only doing this to save you from doing something you'd regret for the rest of your life,' Monk said."

Okay, I'd like to mark a square as "read" because I want to use more of my big stickers, so I'm aiming for the Amateur Sleuth square.

I haven't read any of the other books in this series (this appears to be Book 12), and it's been years since I last watched the TV series. The author's note says this takes place after the final episode, which I'm pretty sure I never saw. It looks like the whole TV series might be available with Amazon Prime. I may watch a few episodes tonight to get myself in the right mindset. Natalie is Monk's assistant here, so I'd like to start with an episode no earlier than her first appearance. Unfortunately, I'm more familiar with the Sharona portion of the series.