I loved the TV show—now long gone. It ran from 2002 through 2009. The books with original stories by Lee Goldberg kept on going after the Monk show ran its course. Then Lee Goldberg stopped writing them after quite a few, and Hy Conrad took over. I may have just read the final book of the series, since Mr. Conrad’s fourth book, Mr. Monk and The New Lieutenant, is his last one. He hopes someone else will continue, but when that one was published this year (2015) no one had yet stepped up.
So, here are my reviews of two of my favorite books—Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out by Lee Goldberg, and Mr. Monk and The New Lieutenant by Hy Conrad.
My five-star review of the first was short: “I was a big fan of the Monk TV series, and I’m a big fan of Lee Goldberg’s Monk mystery series. This book is a neat combination of Monk, his phobias, and up-to-the-minute current events! And you can just guess Monk’s thoughts about that dog with those irregular markings.”
I’ve just finished reading the second book, and it deserves five stars as well. “Mr. Monk does not like Captain Stottlemeyer’s new lieutenant. He’s new, for one thing. (Of course, the feeling is mutual.) However, he and Natalie try their best. They now have their own detective agency with little business. Natalie takes on a divorce case (without Mr. Monk’s knowledge, and definitely against his approval). Then there’s the murder case that wasn’t—until Monk declared at a man’s funeral that he had been murdered. Now they are trying to save the Captain with the same symptoms while tracking down a missing client. Monk convinces Randy Disher to return. With all this going on, it isn’t only Monk’s OCD that confuses everyone. This time Stottlemeyer’s life depends on Monk’s success.”
Both authors worked on the Monk TV show. Lee Goldberg contributed to some shows and worked on different series as well. Hy Conrad was with the Monk show the whole time. Both authors give the reader the authentic “Monk” voice. Goldberg tends to give him more problems with his multiple phobias and personality disorders. Conrad, writing the stories as Monk begins to improve (slightly) still shows them, but they are possibly a bit more muted. (One reader’s opinion here.) Both authors present a humorous as well as nicely convoluted suspenseful story.
I do hope this isn’t the last Monk story.
Thank you for a fun post. I’m also a Monk fan, and now I know a little more about the show and books, thanks to you.
You’re welcome, Marja!
I was just indexing my books and happened to notice one Mr. Monk book; I started wondering just how many books had been written and what chance I had of catching up. The one I have is Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii. I can only suppose that one of my kids or neighbours have any others of mine. I think the other one was something to do with a firehouse. Thanks for the post, I’ll be checking around for some more before they’re gone.
There are four Monk books from the second author, and quite a few from the first author. I found my latest at Barnes & Noble. You could probably order others from there if they don’t have them on hand, or order them from Amazon (or other bookstores). I think there are 19 books all together. (Enjoy your reading!)
I second Marja’s comment! 🙂