Goldberg, Lee: Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop

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Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop is yet another excellent installment in Lee Goldberg's Monk series, which I find I appreciate more with each passing book. They're consistently well-written and amusing: Monk's horror over the filth and asymmetry inherent in the real world makes me laugh out loud at least once per book. (This time that happened 89% of the way into my Kindle text, when Monk discovers the terrible truth about the expensive beauty treatments being dished out in a Chinatown salon.) But beyond the entertaining plots and great lines, there is a warmth to the series, and a depth to the relationships among the three principals--Monk himself, his assistant (and our narrator) Natalie, and Captain Stottlemeyer of the San Francisco Police Department. In this outing I found myself appreciating more than ever Stottlemeyer's quiet support of Monk over the years. 

But Stottlemeyer can't squeeze blood from a stone, even for Monk. In Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop, budget constraints force him to fire Monk, despite that the closure rate for cases he consults on is 100%. But Monk--and Natalie--are hired almost immediately by a high-tech security firm, Intertect, which was started ten years earlier by Stottlemeyer's former colleague in the SFPD, Nick Slade. The company Lexus and paycheck charm Natalie, and the never-ending case load keeps Monk happy--and sleepless, which eventually has a deleterious affect on his detecting abilities: even Monk nods. Fortunately, Natalie has picked up a trick or two over the years that she's spent handing Monk wipes and bottles of Sierra Springs water. The day is eventually saved. Order is restored. And in the end Natalie is happier with her supportive role in Monk's life, having come to realize that the job she fell into some years earlier is exactly where she's supposed to be.