Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants

A better-than-average novelization (not really, since this story never appeared on the show) of one of my favorite TV shows, "Monk", about a brilliant but obsessive-compulsive detective. This story plays on an advantage of written fiction over the show, by bringing back Monk's first assistant, Sharona. The actress had departed the show mid-season over a contract dispute. Here, she has left her husband who is in jail, accused of murder. Natalie, to preserve her job, enlists Monk to prove Trevor's innocence so that Sharona will go back to him, leaving Natalie's job unthreatened. Monk's obsessive-compulsive quirks seem more extreme here than on the show, but that may be a perception caused by Tony Shalhoub's brilliant portrayal. The plot show more itself is typically complex and surprising; the high part is watching a relationship develop between the former and current assistant, as they compare notes about Monk and their own lives. A good quick read, and not at all a guilty one. show less

Natalie and her daughter Julie, with Monk tagging along, end up in the ER to have Julie's broken arm set. The nurse happens to be Sharona, Mr. Monk's former assistant, who had left Monk without a good-bye and returned to New Jersey to re-marry her ex-husband. Now, she's left her husband again, but this time it's because he's murdered one of his landscaping clients and is sitting in jail in L.A.
Natalie, Monk's current assistant, begins investigating the case herself, determined to find Sharona's husband innocent, because if he's guilty, Sharona is back for good and likely taking Natalie's job.

In this installment of the book series based on the TV show, a series of unfortunate events results in Monk being face to face with his former assistant Sharona, who has recently returned back to San Francisco. To the confoundment of his current assistant Natalie, Monk seems ready to take Sharona back into his fold. Sharona, however, is dealing with her own problems, including a husband suspected of murder back in Los Angeles. Can Monk clear the husband's name? And will Natalie soon be out of job?

Unlike some of the other titles in this series, this book seemed to require a little more knowledge of the show's background. Obviously, it's meant for fans anyhow, but the other books seemed like a casual mystery reader could enjoy them as show more well. There are definitely a lot of fun bits in this book with Monk getting into a lot of tricky situations (including a general repulsion of Los Angeles, particularly its smog) as well as a new character, a hugely popular mystery writer who keeps inserting himself into Monk's investigations.

Like with other titles in this series, this book gets to expand upon a typical Monk episode by providing more details and additional cases. Even though most things are fairly predictable (or least not that far out of left field as to be unimaginable), this book is an entertaining and light read. show less

With her husband accused of murder, Sharona Fleming believes he hasn’t really changed and she leaves him. Returning to San Francisco, she finds a job as an emergency room nurse. A chance encounter with Adrian Monk leads her to determine that the detective isn’t angry with her and she makes some enquiries about returning to her previous position as Monk’s assistant.

This doesn’t sit too well with Natalie Teeger, Monk’s current assistant. She reasons that if they can prove Trevor innocent, Sharona will return to New Jersey and her job as Monk’s assistant will be safe. As Monk sets out to unravel the mystery of a man seemingly murdered by an alligator, Natalie makes every effort to get the detective to investigate the murder show more Trevor supposedly committed, hoping that, if Monk is successful in proving Trevor’s innocence, Sharona will reconcile with her husband and they’ll leave San Francisco together. Will Monk find the answer Natalie hopes for or is she destined to share the detective . . . and her job . . . with Sharona?

This book, the fourth in the series, offers readers a narrative that is a bit more convoluted than the earlier ones. All the expected characters are in place, but Natalie seems far more childish and whiney here than in previous books. That said, there are still plenty of chuckles in store for readers as Adrian Monk’s foibles get the best of him. However, the twisty plot seems a bit forced and readers will readily identify the killer long before the reveal.

This quick-read tale, true to the television series, retains the quirkiness of the earlier stories and, as with the previous tales, Natalie serves as the narrator. The story, while stretching credibility a bit more than the earlier tales, is, in essence, classic Monk. show less

I was looking forward to this, considering that I thought Goldberg had done a remarkable job with the "voices" of the cast of Monk characters in the previous three Monk novels, and I was eager to see how well he handled the return of Sharona. Unfortunately, this novel came across rather flat for me. It isn't badly done, just not as well done as I would have liked. Sharona just didn't "feel" like Sharona to me. The mystery itself was clever, but enough clues got dropped along the way that I had pretty much figured it out before Monk did. Overall, an entertaining, light mystery read, that should appeal to fans of Monk, but won't win over anyone who doesn't already follow the series.

“Mr. Monk and the two Assistants” is my favorite of the Monk books by Lee Goldberg, so far. In fact, it is one of the best stories to ever feature Mr. Monk, televised or in print. In this book, as he did with “Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii”, Mr. Goldberg puts Monk in a situation that could not be done on the television series. This time, Natalie’s daughter Julie breaks her arm and Natalie has to take her to the hospital, with Monk in tow. There she meets a nurse who seems to know a lot about Monk. Monk stands speechless as soon as he hears her voice, since it turns out the nurse is Monk’s former nurse and assistant Sherona Fleming. It is great to be able to see the two assistants together. Sherona’s husband was arrested for show more murder. He claims he’s innocent, but due to his shady past Sherona does not believe him and leaves for San Francisco with her son Benjy. Natalie wants Monk to take on the case so that Sherona will move back to New Jersey, and Monk wants to let him stay in prison so Sherona will stay in San Francisco. The characters are portrayed brilliantly in this book. Each line of dialog is written in such a way that you can hear the voices of the actors from the show in your head as you read them. It’s great to see Sherona again. I liked her character a lot, but I have grown to like Natalie as well as the show has progressed. It’s great to see how the two women feel about each other. They have a lot of differences, but they have a lot of similarities as well, and it’s not just that they care for Mr. Monk. show less

I have now read all of the Monk books by Lee Goldberg, and this one was definitely one of my favorites. Goldberg, who was a writer for the show, always gets the voices of the characters just right, and the scenes with Sharona and Natalie were written perfectly. I read these books out of order, and while it didn't really diminish the enjoyment of them, there are evolutions in the characters' lives that make me think it'd be better to read them in the order they were written.