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. ( )

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 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. ( )

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 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. ( )

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. ( )

The best of the best. I stayed up all night reading this..yawn! Monk's former assistant shows up, and Natalie is worried that she will lose her job. Monk,being Monk, keeps both of them, and the fun begins. Many murders are solved, but because Sharona's husband is in prison for murder, Monk helps to get him out of prison, since he didn't do the murder. Crime novelist Ian Ludlow is always nosing around, and this presents some interesting side issues. No need to tell you the full details as that would ruin the story for you, but if you need a book for the weekend, get this one. Lee Goldberg at his best. ( )