Customer Reviews
a excited fan - By: A. Chowdhury, 20 Aug 2008 
this is the first monk book i have read & think it is great
It alllows for a different prespective of monk & seems to provide a better understanding of how his mind works than the tv show as it goes into the little things/details & natalie's understanding of why monk is the way he is
you can actuallly see how he comes to the conclusion & you are amazed at how it makes sense. though you can see it on the tv series it seems clearer in the book
Its a must read. It is easy to follow & I sped through it as i didn't want to put it down-and that is saying something as I have been unable to find the time or the urge recentlly to pick up a book & read it through
Great Monk Book - By: Mr. Toby A. Amiel, 06 May 2008 This was the first Monk book that i read & it was amazing. The way that Lee Goldberg writes them from Natalies (Monks assistant) point of view is brilliant.
I finished this book within two days & was completely stunned by the way it was written.
The storyline is great as Monk is investigating the murder of a firehouse dog when he stumbles across another murder & the way he proves who killed them is amazing.
A must read for any Monk or detective story fan!
Great Book!
Lee is the master - By: Bj Lucas, 04 Oct 2007 Mr.Monk is a brilliant detective, he just has one problem, he suffers from OCD. So, when his apartment has to fumigated, & he moves into his assistants Natalie's place for a spell, well, you can just bet that life for Natalie, & her daughter Julie is going to be turned upside down.
the mystery begins when the firestation Dog is found killed. When an elderly woman Esther Stoval is found dead, seemingly the victim of a house fire, Monk knows otherwise & quickly gets to work on proving who did the dasterdly deed.
This is yet another great read from master writer Lee Goldberg, I enjoyed it immensely, & couldn't put it down.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Firehouse - By: KM, 06 Sep 2007 'Mr Monk Goes to the Firehouse' is the first in the new series of books based on the show "Monk", written by Lee Goldberg who has also written episodes for the TV series.
The story begins when Adrian Monk is forced to stay with his assistant & personal nurse, Natalie & her daughter Julie, for a while whilst his home is being fumigated for termites. Monk is then hired by Julie to investigate the murder of the local fire station's dog, Sparky, who has been killed by a pick-axe.
The investigation of the dog's murder links to another murder from the same night, this time an old lady who has been smothered to death by a pillow & then has her house burnt down. With the help of Natalie, Captain Stottlemyer & Lieutenant Disher, Monk solves the crimes fairly quickly but he then has to prove how the killer did it.
Anyone who has seen & loves the TV show will appreciate the comedy of Monk's character & will easily be able to picture the hilarious situations he gets himself into in this book & it will have you literallly laughing out loud (I did on a number of occasions). The book is written from the perspective of Monk's assistant Natalie, rather than the detective himself (like in Sherlock Holmes), which is a clever way of describing Monk's obsessions & phobias, as if this was written from Monk's perspective instead he wouldn't see anything wrong with his unusual behaviour & would probably be ignored.
Overalll this is an absolutely hilarious whodunnit with alll of the charm of the show & it's characters captured perfectly by Goldberg & is most certainly worthy of the TV show that fans should enjoy without a doubt. I look forward to reading the rest of the Monk series.
Mr Monk and the Written Word - By: Foggy Tewsday, 24 Dec 2006 
The creators of the television series, `Monk', have cited Sherlock Holmes as part of the inspiration behind the character. Monk's analytical & deductive prowesses certainly owe something to Holmes. Perhaps author Lee Goldberg had the Holmesian tradition in mind when he decided to use Monk's friend & assistant, Natalie Teeger, to relate this story from her point of view, just as Conan Doyle did with Dr. Watson.
Fans of the excellent television show upon which this novel is based may rest assured that the novel is entirely in keeping with the spirit of the show. There are plenty of laughs as Monk temporarily moves into Natalie's home complete with his idiosyncratic need to monopolise the bathroom. The mystery element of the story kicks in when Natalie's daughter, Julie, asks Monk to investigate the suspicious death of a dog belonging to a local firefighter.
As is often the case in the television show, Monk quickly works out who the killer is & the reader's pleasure is in the detective's quest to prove his case. There is a romantic subplot involving Natalie & a fireman, & lots of Monk being, well, Monk.
The novel is a nice, easy read, but the `howdunnit' (the `whodunnit' is already known) aspect is cleverly realised. I would say that `Monk' is a television show that lends itself quite comfortably to novel form & if you like watching the show, you should enjoy this novel.
