This is the final Adrian Monk mystery written by Goldberg, and knowing that put me off starting it, as I didn’t want it all to end. Hopefully, I am not the only one who has done this before. In the author’s note it was interesting to learn about the challenging schedule Goldberg faced when he began writing the Monk tie-in books:
‘I took the assignment, which was an insane thing to do, since it would mean writing a new book by night every ninety days, alternating between Monk and Diagnosis Murder, while also running a TV series during the day. That’s how much I loved Adrian Monk. I kept up that brutal pace for two years before finally ending the Diagnosis Murder book series.’
In addition, Goldberg also mentions that Mr Monk Goes to the Firehouse (2006) was adapted for TV, which he says is ‘may be the first time in American TV history that a tie-in novel of a TV show has been adapted into an episode of the series.’
Synopsis
‘The future is looking bright for Adrian Monk. Natalie is working as a cop in Summit, his brother is a week away from getting married, and Monk has a new assistant—and even a girlfriend. All this change doesn’t keep him from work, though. He’s investigating a string of accidental deaths and suicides that he believes are actually murders. But when Monk’s suspect is killed, he must face the fact that he might be wrong. Have stability and happiness robbed Monk of his mojo? Meanwhile, Monk’s imprisoned arch nemesis, the morbidly obese criminal mastermind Dale the Whale, is being transferred from prison to San Francisco General Hospital for an operation. When Dale escapes and all signs point to Captain Stottlemeyer as his accomplice, Monk will have to reboot his detective skills to clear the captain’s name—and prove that he’s still the one and only Monk.’
Overall Thoughts
In keeping with the other books in the series Natalie Teeger narrates the story, however, for a large chunk of the book she is not present. Instead, she is describing events that involved Adrian Monk, which she was not part of. I guess this is to show how far Monk has come since the start, but I still missed not having Natalie on the page so much. The reason for Natalie’s absence is because she is now a police officer in Summit, New Jersey, where there is a distinct lack of murders to investigate. This is a point she raises in the opening lines: ‘I’d never gone so long without a murder. Investigating one, that is.’ Natalie goes on to describe her former employer, Adrian, as ‘a murder magnet’ and she shares how this:
‘[…] used to drive me crazy […] It didn’t matter whether we were at a family wedding, on a flight to Paris, attending a play, visiting a winery, or shopping for groceries – we’d inevitably find a corpse. He couldn’t go two days without ending up in the middle of a homicide investigation.’
Yet Natalie does admit that:
‘[…] after all my complaining, I actually found myself missing the murders. Let me qualify that before you write me off as a terrible person. It’s not the violent loss of someone’s life that I missed, but rather the intensity, complexity, and high stakes of the investigation that often followed.’
At least Natalie will be reuniting with Adrian Monk, her daughter Julie, and the other series characters soon, as she is returning to San Fransico for Ambrose’s wedding to Yuki, Ambrose being Adrian’s brother. It also transpires that Julie is working as a temporary assistant to Monk over the summer. We see her in action during a “mini case” Monk is investigating involving a body falling from the 17th floor of a building, a situation Monk deems to be murder, rather than suicide. Unlike Natalie who would get stuck into an investigation, Julie would much rather be on her phone, and she does not accommodate Adrian’s demands as much. This latter facet is also more present in Captain Stottlemeyer’s approach to Adrian Monk, which reflects how much Monk has grown, and these days Stottlemeyer often just honestly tells him when a demand cannot be acceded to:
“You’ve come a long way in the last year, Monk. You only need an assistant part-time, you rarely see your shrink anymore, and you’re dating a woman who sells actual crap. I think you can handle a little more honesty and a little less patronising now.”
In addition, Julie, in comparison to her mother, is much happier to utilise technology to overcome Monk’s difficulties, such as getting him to assess a crime scene over Facetime.
Despite Monk’s personal growth, he has not lost his outlook on life, which still allows for humorous moments such as when Stottlemeyer has to tell him some bad news:
“No, I have something else to tell you,” Stottlemeyer said.
“I was adopted.”
“No,” Stottlemeyer said.
“I have six months to live.”
“No,” Stottlemeyer said.
“I have gum under my shoe.”
Stottlemeyer raised an eyebrow. “Tell me those questions weren’t asked in order of importance to you.”
There are also still some delightful turns of phrase such as when Ellen gives Monk a hug, which is described as being ‘so intimate that a car could have parked between them.’
Similar to other books in the series this is a mystery in which the “who” is identified early on, and the difficulty is in proving the case. That does not mean it lacks drama or surprises, particularly since the escape of Dale the Whale provides additional tension and interest. His escape and Monk’s approach to resolving it feels like two grand chess masters playing a game, in which they are both able to anticipate their opponent’s next move. The overall structure of the mystery is more thriller than detective, and I am reminded of something Dorothy L. Sayers wrote in one of her reviews for The Sunday Times, upon the nature of the difference between thrillers and detective fiction:
‘[…] is mainly one of emphasis. Agitating events occur in both, but in the thriller our cry is “What comes next?” – in the detective story, “What came first?” The one we cannot guess; the other we can, if the author gives us a chance.’
I definitely think Mr Monk Gets Even is a story in which we are eager to discover “What comes next?” and I liked how Goldberg wrapped things up for the various characters. It was a satisfying note to end on. Since I have reached the end of Goldberg written Monk novels, I thought it might be interesting to post a ranked list for the series, so stay tuned!
Rating: 4/5
P. S. I think Poirot would approve of this sentiment from Monk:
“Murder is as old as man […] All I’ve got to do is look for the thins that don’t belong, are out of place, unbalanced, uneven, or missing, and if I try to restore the order, and clean up the mess, the truth will reveal itself.”