''Mr. Monk Gets on Board'' is the seventeenth novel based on the television series ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

''. It was published on January 7, 2014. Like the other novels, the story is narrated by

Natalie Teeger The following is a list of characters of ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series, created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. Except for two changes, the principal ca ...

, Monk's assistant. It is the second novel in the series to be written by Hy Conrad.

Plot summary

Natalie completes the requirements and receives a license as a private investigator, and proceeds to attend a business seminar at sea with Adrian Monk. When the alarm is pulled and the ship drops anchor, they discover the dead body of the cruise director in the sea. She has alcohol in her system, so her death is deemed an accident, but Adrian Monk isn't convinced.

List of characters

Characters from the television series

Adrian Monk Adrian Monk, portrayed by Tony Shalhoub, is the title character and protagonist of the USA Network television series '' Monk''. He is a renowned former homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department. Monk has obsessive–compuls ...

: The titular detective, played in the series by

Tony Shalhoub Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; born October 9, 1953), is an American actor. His accolades include five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, six Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. He played Adrian Monk in the USA N ...

: Monk's loyal assistant and the narrator of the book, played on the series by

Traylor Howard Traylor Elizabeth Howard is an American actress. Her roles include Sharon Carter on the television series ''Two Guys and a Girl'', and Natalie Teeger on the USA Network series ''Monk''. Early life Howard was born in Orlando, Florida, to Peggy ...

Background

In his author's note, Hy Conrad said that this novel was adapted from the script for a never-filmed episode of season 3 called "Mr. Monk Is At Sea". The premise of that episode had Monk and Sharona Fleming investigate a murder on a cruise ship. Had the episode been filmed, it probably would have taken the place of "Mr. Monk and the Game Show," the sole episode of the series where none of the supporting cast appear. Conrad noted that while

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...

approved the script, the episode got canned because they were unable to find a real cruise ship to secure for filming, as cruise lines were very sensitive about murders being committed on-board or people falling overboard. The script subsequently ended up in the vault. In the next few seasons, the writers would turn to the script of "Mr. Monk Is At Sea" when running low on ideas and make calls, but it became the show's white whale. ''Mr. Monk Gets on Board'' is described by Conrad as being the plot of "Mr. Monk Is At Sea," but with some changes: the replacement of Sharona with Natalie, the addition of a subplot involving a book collector named Malcolm Leeds, and a visit to Mexico that includes a meeting with Captain Alameda, the San Macros police captain from season 2's " Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico".

Reception

The ''West Orlando News'' praised the book and recommended it to fans of the television series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Monk Gets on Board 2014 American novels Monk (novel series) Signet Books books