Goldberg, Lee: Mr. Monk on the Couch

  Amazon  

Lee Goldberg's 12th Monk novel is a little different from preceding installments in the series. Monk's assistant Natalie Teeger, who doubles as the book's narrator, has become interested in playing the detective herself. When a man is found dead in a seedy hotel room of natural causes, but nevertheless in mysterious circumstances, she sets herself the task of figuring out his back story. The job is unnecessary as far as the police are concerned, and Monk is bored by it, but Natalie doggedly pursues the mystery with help from Monk's agoraphobic brother Ambrose. Natalie's development into a detective in her own right is a nice development, and there's a welcome change in Ambrose's circumstances as well. There's also a decent mystery--a foursome of related deaths--to keep Monk occupied. The problem is that with Natalie's role in the story expanded, Monk's is correspondingly reduced. As a result, the book, while still well worth reading, is much less amusing than previous installments. So I'm hoping for a return to the more familiar pattern in book thirteen.