Mr. Monk in Outer Space
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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October 30, 2007 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 288 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 144330126 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3557.O3577 M77 2007 |
| Preceded by | Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants |
| Followed by | Mr. Monk Goes to Germany |
"Mr. Monk in Outer Space" is the fifth novel in the Monk mystery novel series by writer Lee Goldberg, published on October 30, 2007.
When Conrad Stipe, creator of the popular science fiction TV series Beyond Earth, is gunned down outside a Beyond Earth convention, Monk and Natalie are called in, and Monk soon finds that there is more going on behind the scenes than is visible to the naked eye, and also learns that his brother Ambrose is a big expert on the show.
Early one morning, Natalie Teeger shows up for work only to find her boss, Adrian Monk, in a state of nervous collapse because of a near-invisible coffee stain on his carpet. Monk begs to stay with Natalie for a few days while he is having his carpet replaced. Natalie is trying to think of a tactful way to refuse, when they get a call about a corpse.
Monk and Natalie head down to the headquarters of Burgerville, a national fast-food chain. After taking a bit of trouble to get Monk through the building's revolving door, Captain Stottlemeyer introduces them to an old friend, an ex-cop named Archie Applebaum, who now works as a security guard, and who found the body. It is revealed that Archie and Stottlemeyer were close friends at the police academy.
They are taken up to the fifth floor. Stottlemeyer explains that the victim is Brandon Lorber, Burgerville's CEO. Lorber was found in his office, shot three times à la the Mozambique Drill – e.g. twice in the chest and once in the head, plus a through-and-through bullet hole in his right hand. When Monk, Natalie, and Stottlemeyer arrive in Lorber's office, Lieutenant Disher tells them that the M.O. indicates a professional killer. As Archie said he never heard anything, the killer probably used a silencer. Stottlemeyer notes that the killer, despite being seen on security cameras, obscured his face so that they couldn't get a good look at him.
Monk says that despite all the evidence to the contrary, Brandon Lorber was not murdered: he died of a heart attack. He points out that Lorber's shirt is wrinkled, from when Lorber grabbed at his chest. He probably flailed around and tried to get to his ticker pills, but he never made it (in the process of flailing around, he also knocked a box of cigars off his desk and onto the floor). Monk reveals that Lorber had been dead for several minutes when he was shot - there isn't enough blood from the bullet holes, and there would have been more blood present if his heart was still functioning when he was shot. Since it's not technically a homicide, Stottlemeyer halts the investigation and, at Monk's suggestion, he appoints Disher as the head of a "Special Desecration Unit" to take over the case.
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