Mr. Monk Gets Even
The Monk Series
Mr. Monk Gets Even
Mr. Monk Is a Mess
Mr. Monk on Patrol
Mr. Monk on the Couch
Mr. Monk on the Road
Mr. Monk Is Cleaned Out
Mr. Monk in Trouble
Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop
Mr. Monk Is Miserable
Mr. Monk Goes to Germany
Mr. Monk in Outer Space
Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu
Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii
Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse
MR. MONK
GETS EVEN
A NOVEL BY
LEE GOLDBERG
Based on the USA Network
television series created by
ANDY BRECKMAN
AN OBSIDIAN MYSTERY
OBSIDIAN
Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
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First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Copyright © 2012
Monk
© Universal Network Television LLC. Licensed by NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group 2012.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
OBSIDIAN and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:
GOLDBERG, LEE, 1962–
Mr. Monk gets even: a novel/by Lee Goldberg; based on the USA Network television series created by Andy Breckman.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-101-59857-3
1. Monk, Adrian (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Private investigators—Fiction. 3. Eccentrics And eccentricities—Fiction. 4. Obsessive-compulsive disorder—Fiction. 5. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 6. San Francisco (Calif.)—Fiction. 7. Mystery fiction. I. Breckman, Andy. II. Title.
PS3557.O3577M727 2013
813'.54—DC23 2012031430
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
To Valerie and Madison
AUTHOR’S NOTE
AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This is the end for me and my long, wonderful association with Adrian Monk. The series of books may continue, but this is my fifteenth and final
Monk
book.
The association began when
Monk
creator Andy Breckman hired me and my then screenwriting and producing partner William Rabkin to write an episode of the TV series titled “Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico,” which would end up being the first of three episodes we wrote for the show.
At the time, Bill and I were about to begin writing and producing the Lifetime TV series
Missing
and I was deep into writing the
Diagnosis Murder
novels, which were based on the TV series of the same name that we’d also written and executive produced.
When Andy was approached by NAL about writing the
Monk
novels, he declined the opportunity and recommended that I write them instead.
I took the assignment, which was an insane thing to do, since it would mean writing a new book by night every ninety days, alternating between
Monk
and
Diagnosis Murder
, while also running a TV series during the day.
That’s how much I loved Adrian Monk.
I kept up that brutal pace for two years before finally ending the
Diagnosis Murder
book series.
Andy liked my first
Monk
novel,
Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse
, so much that he hired Bill and me to adapt it into an episode of the TV show. The episode, titled “Mr. Monk Can’t See a Thing,” may be the first time in American TV history that a tie-in novel of a TV show has been adapted into an episode of the series . . . and by the author of the book, no less. (If it’s ever been done before, we haven’t found it. And if it has been done, it’s obviously a rare occurrence!)
If it wasn’t for Andy’s enthusiasm and support, I doubt I would have written so many
Monk
novels or had so much fun doing them. He gave me his trust and the creative freedom to make the book series entirely my own, and for that I will always be grateful.
I want to thank Kerry Donovan, who has been my editor on this series from the very beginning, my agent Gina Maccoby, who put together the deal, and my go-to medical and forensic expert, Dr. D. P. Lyle. I also regularly leaned on my “cop buddies” Paul Bishop, Lee Lofland, and Robin Burcell for their expertise on police matters, and I hope I didn’t embarrass them too much with the great liberties I took with the information they gave me.
It’s not easy writing two books a year, particularly if you’re doing it part-time while making your living in television. I can trace my life in these books, like
Mr. Monk in Outer Space
and
Mr. Monk Goes to Germany
, both of which I wrote while writing, producing, and shooting a movie in Berlin and Cologne. They kept me sane, and out of trouble, while I was far away from home.
For the most part, though, the time I spent on these books was time I didn’t spend with my family, particularly on this last one, which required more than a few all-nighters. So, with deep appreciation, I want to thank my wife, Valerie, and my daughter, Madison, for the sacrifices they made during the past seven years while I pretended to be a woman assisting an obsessive-compulsive detective on his investigations.
And finally, I want to thank all of you for being such devoted readers, and for the many e-mails, letters, and kind words you’ve shared with me over the years about these books. It meant a lot to me.
Lee Goldberg
Los Angeles, California
June 2012
Contents
Author's Note and Acknowledgments