Sunday, May 22, 2011

Mr. Monk on the Couch -- Lee Goldberg

Last Thursday Judy had a full day of miserable tests at M. D. Anderson (no results yet), and I had a long day of waiting rooms. I knew exactly what to take with me: the new Monk book by Lee Goldberg. Based on past experience with the novels in this series, I knew it would be funny, well written, and well researched. I knew it would have a clever plot and interesting characters. And I hoped I'd find some interesting developments in Natalie Teeger's life. I wasn't disappointed. It had all this and more. As a bonus, there's also a quite interesting change in the life of Monk's brother, Ambrose, one that added a good many laughs to the book.

The plot? It appears that a serial killer is on the loose in San Francisco, and as the victims pile up, it turns out that they're all in Natalie's neighborhood. There's a mcguffin, too, giving the title a double meaning. While that's going on, Natalie's making an investigation of her own, into the life of a man who's died of natural causes in a seedy hotel. Who was he? Why was he there. Natalie wants to know.

That's enough said. If you like the other Monk books, you'll like this one. If you've never read the other Monk books, what are you waiting for? This is one of the most entertaining series around. Highly recommended.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I've never read one of these but I recently read - and enjoyed - a Monk story in EQMM in which Monk sought to have a cop arrested for the heinous crime of breaking apart a styrofoam cup.

I guess I could try the first book.

Jeff

Jerry House said...

Hope everything comes back Adrian-Monk-clean at Anderson, Bill.

Deb said...

Best wishes for excellent results. A friend is being treated at M.D. Anderson right now and I know how excruciating the wait for results is.

Lee Goldberg said...

Bill,

I'm so glad that MR. MONK ON THE COUCH made your time in the waiting room a little less miserable. I hope the tests came back as clean as Adrian Monk's apartment.

Lee

Anonymous said...

OK, I ordered the first two books (which wasn't easy with fingers crossed for Judy).

Jeff

mybillcrider said...

If you don't like 'em blame Lee.

Mike said...

I have all the Monk books, the last five or six on the Kindle. I enjoy them more than I enjoyed watching the series.