9 /10 1 Votes
4.7/5 Barnes & Noble Language English Media type Print (hardcover) Originally published 7 January 2014 Genre Mystery Country United States of America | 4.1/5 Goodreads 4.6/5 iTunes - Apple Publication date January 7, 2014 ISBN 978-0-451-24095-8 Publisher New American Library Preceded by Mr. Monk Helps Himself | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Series Monk mystery novel series Followed by Mr. Monk Is Open For Business Similar Hy Conrad books, Mystery books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Monk Gets on Board is the seventeenth novel based on the television series Monk. It was published on January 7, 2014. Like the other novels, the story is narrated by Natalie Teeger, Monk's assistant. It is the second novel in the series to be written by Hy Conrad.
Contents
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.
Characters from the television series
Trivia
In his author's note, Hy Conrad noted 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 would have 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 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. No one wanted to loan a ship for filming, even when the killer's identity and the body count were changed. 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 become the show's white whale.
Therefore, Mr. Monk Gets on Board is described by Conrad as being the plot of "Mr. Monk Is At Sea," but with some changes: namely, 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.