Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants by Lee Goldberg

TV’s obsessive-compulsive detective, Adrian Monk, has a real dilemma on his hands. His two assistants are vying for his affection; Natalie having been convinced that Sharona wants her old job back. Monk is also engaged in finding out who did the dirty deeds for which Sharona’s husband Trevor is accused.

Monk, who can always tell if something is wrong, carries on his traditionally off-the-wall investigations both in Los Angeles, under the eagle eye of the nonplussed Lt. Dozier, and in San Francisco, under the more familiar, but equally-nonplussed, watch of Capt. Stottlemeyer and Lt. Disher. Lt. Disher seeks the assistance of famous crime novelist Ian Ludlow, who has sold millions of books in his Detective Marshak series, but has not gained the approval of Mr. Monk.
Monk seems to continually fail in the face of the illustrious writer, who always seems to be a step or two ahead of him. And Monk is not at ease with his own failure. But, as so often with Monk, he snatches victory from the jaws of apparent defeat, and exonerates Trevor, springs Sharona and Natalie from jail, and unmasks the plot behind the alligator-killing of a shoe store clerk with unknown ties to one of the assistants.

Lee Goldberg has been a screenwriter for the show, so the voices of the regulars ring true for those who have been fans, as this reader has been. Monk is as infuriatingly endearing an insightful as always, and true to the character played by the talented Tony Shaloob. Fun!