Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants

As I've said before (here and here), I've never seen an episode of Monk. Yet I have a great time reading Lee Goldberg's novels based on the series (and I'm not even reading them in the order of their publication).

I don't think a book in this series will ever get an Edgar nomination. Why? Maybe it's greatest drawback is that it's a tie-in. Tie-ins don't get a lot of respect. Too bad, because people who don't read them often miss a real treat. Also, there's not a lot of heavy-duty angst. There's some, for sure. Monk's backstory, and Natalie's too, for that matter, are full of it, but Goldberg doesn't dwell on it. Which is just fine. Some would say the book's not serious enough. Not true. There's social commentary aplenty. It's just not harped on, and it's not the main point.

This book's about the return of Sharona, Monk's first assistant. Natalie's upset and jealous, and when she finds out Sharona's husband is accused of murder, she's not sure she wants Monk to investigate. He does, however, and, as usual, he solves a couple of other cases along the way. Then he runs into another big-time case, and the story seems to take off in a different direction. {SPOILER ALERT} If you've ever read more than a couple of mystery novels, you know already that the cases are connected. {END OF SPOILER ALERT} In the end, Goldberg gives us two different solutions to several crimes, with each solution using all the clues to point to entirely different culprits. And then there's (sort of) a third just for good measure.

A great touch in this one is the in-joke use of (sort-of) real-life author Ian Ludlow. This is metafiction of a high order. Not that it's the funniest thing in the book, which is plenty funny all the way through. Check it out.