Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants
1st edition 2007 hardback cover
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| Author | Lee Goldberg |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Monk mystery novel series |
| Genre | Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Signet Books |
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Publication date
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July 3, 2007 (hardcover) January 2, 2008 (paperback) |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 279 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 77271229 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3557.O3577 M725 2007 |
| Preceded by | Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu |
| Followed by | Mr. Monk in Outer Space |
Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants is the fourth novel based on the television series Monk by Lee Goldberg. It is the first Monk novel to be published in hardcover, on July 3, 2007. The paperback edition was released on January 2, 2008.
Adrian Monk and Natalie Teeger take Julie to the hospital after she breaks her wrist during a soccer game, though before they leave, Monk gives the other parents the satisfaction of exposing the other team's coach as a murderer. At the hospital, Monk is stunned when he sees his old assistant Sharona Fleming working as a nurse. She explains that after leaving Monk's employ to remarry her ex-husband, Trevor Howe, and move to New Jersey, a friend of Trevor's from Los Angeles who owned a landscaping business sold his business to Trevor. They moved to Los Angeles and took over the business. However, recently, when one of his clients, a professor named Ellen Cole, was found bludgeoned to death with a lamp in her house, evidence turned up suggesting Trevor was the killer. Sharona has no trouble believing it, so she and Benjy have moved back up to San Francisco, with Benjy currently staying with Sharona's sister Gail.
Sharona doesn't hide the fact that she'd like her old job with Monk back, and before long there is open hostility between her and Natalie. To save her job, she works out a compromise: they will travel to Los Angeles so that Monk can see if Trevor is really guilty.
Monk, Natalie and Sharona drive to Los Angeles, arriving by nightfall. They meet Lieutenant Sam Dozier of the Los Angeles Police Department while he's investigating the shooting of a cashier killed in an antiques store robbery. Here, Monk (wearing a gas mask due to fear of the smog) exposes the owner's wife as the killer. They then travel to Ellen Cole's house. Monk examines the scene and concludes (somewhat to his own regret), that Trevor is innocent. He notices several clues that suggest that Ellen Cole's killer was waiting for her, meaning that the murder was premeditated. However, Dozier informs Monk that jewelry from Trevor's clients was found in his truck, and Sharona dismisses this as not being enough to arrest Trevor - after all, it's not too difficult to commit identity theft and open an account with someone else's name to fence stolen goods.
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