Goldberg, Lee: Mr. Monk is Miserable

Signet, 304 pages
1st published: 2008

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Mr. Monk is Miserable, the seventh book in Lee Goldberg's series of TV tie-ins, picks up immediately where book six, Mr. Monk Goes to Germany (see my review), left off. After solving a number of homicides in Germany's Lohr Valley, Monk and his assistant Natalie head to Paris for a vacation--a word which has vastly different connotations for Monk than for Natalie and the rest of humanity. Fortunately for Monk, Paris--despite its disconcerting otherness--has a few things to recommend it: a restaurant that serves Sierra Springs bottled water and perfectly square croque monsieurs, an underground museum that showcases the history of the groundbreaking Parisian sewer system, and an army of mini sanitation vehicles that sweep, vacuum, and wash the city's sidewalks. Paris also has its share of murders, one of which would have gone undetected indefinitely were it not for Monk's preternaturally acute attention to detail. Happily, Monk is able to break up the monotony of sight-seeing by assisting the local police in their investigations, and since one of the crimes has a San Francisco connection, Monk and Natalie are eventually joined in Paris by Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher.  As usual with this series, Mr. Monk is Miserable offers readers a winning combination, a good mystery wrapped in humorous dialogue and occasional bits of pathos. I am impressed by how consistently enjoyable the Monk books are and lament only that I'm catching up to the author: as of January 2010, there are only two more books remaining in the series that I have yet to read, Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop and Mr. Monk in Trouble, both published in 2009. I'll have to pace myself unless Mr. Goldberg and his publisher agree to ramp up production.