Gary Mugford at Mug Shots were about MR. Monk on the bench a great review. He said in part:
Goldberg looks forward to the freedom at the end of his TV series. That is clear. It is strange to find this album, for Natalie-centric, while in fact they told each book, and it is their voice in your head all the time. But in the previous 11 books in the series, Monk was the voice of most of the time.
[...] As reported in the late-night infomercials, to say, but wait, there's more. While Natalie is doing her P.I. with training wheels, there are other murders for Adrian Monk to solve. And she does it solve. Only for a suit from the top of the police to be invalid solutions because there is no evidence that he is right. Knowing who and what passes through a series of murders appears frustratingly inadequate, a "Here's what happened" moment, without the payment / conviction.
Natalie and Detective Amy Devlin rescue of the case by thinking and working outside the box. We see Natalie working "undercover" for the first time. And I bet you will not be the last.
The question is posed in the book, what happened to Natalie, if something happens to Monk? You could return to her family. But not now. We know the answer.
He's right, I have fun with the latest books MONK. Because the TV series ended, I have a few chances with the characters and there is always the series fresh ... I thought if you read all the books, you think the changes as a natural evolutionary step in their message, see (especially with Natalie, plays an arc that began with MR. MONK and dirty COP).
MR. PATROL monk comes in January, to build at least on the issues and events in MR. MONK on the couch. And the person I am now writing, MR. MONK is a mess, is a direct continuation of the PATROL (in the same way that MR. MONK miserable was a direct sequel to MR. Monk Germany).
I'm just a vague idea where the next book is ... But it's nice to be able to characters in a way that I did not when I was able to ensure the continuity of the TV show drive to work.