The obsessed detective Mr. Monk, and his forgiving assistant Natalie find themselves in Summit, New Jersey, this time, working for their old friend Randy Disher, chief of police there. This novel is a little different. Monk and Natalie have both evolved. They are very much the same characters we've known and loved through many Monk novels, but time and adversity have weathered them, etched character in them, softened the sharp edges. These changes deepen our bond to them. Mr. Monk is still the maddening compulsive-obsessive, but we see the burden and pain of the disorder at work in him, and we come to cherish his small, brave steps toward a happier, less imprisoned life. Natalie, too, has evolved with the years into a gifted detective whose deductions rival Mr. Monk's. If anything, she is even more accepting of her crazy employer than before, and in her maturity, more independent.
Like the other Monk novels, this is about crime and detection, and about Monk's uncanny ability to sift bits of evidence out of the things that elude the rest of us. But there is more here that Monk fans will cherish. Here is progress; Monk's and Natalie's quiet journey toward happier and richer lives.
Lee Goldberg writes with grace and insight, focusing tenderly on his characters' lives and aspirations, and in the end, we readers feel closer to Mr. Monk and Natalie than ever before. His particular gift, one of many, is his ability to draw characters vividly. He is one of the finest novelists writing.
