Natalie Teeger was looking forward to her friend’s wedding, partly because it was in Hawaii and partly because her friend was paying for her flight and room. And partly because it got her away from her boss, Adrian Monk, just for a week or so. Unfortunately, Monk doesn’t want to be alone, so with a little pharmaceutical help, he accompanies her. And a good job too, because there’s all sorts of crime going on in Hawaii that need the right sort of mind to sort them out.

First and foremost is the death of a rich tourist who appears to have been killed by a falling coconut. Monk can see it’s clearly murder, but so can Dylan Swift, a famous psychic. He knows because apparently Helen told him…

So after enjoying the first Monk novel, I thought I’d keep going and got a copy of the next in the series. I have read this one a long time ago (pre-blog) so I knew this was a good one.

One thing first – I’ve just got to Mr Monk Takes His Medicine, the TV episode that features the pills that turn him into “the Monk”, an overly-relaxed version of himself who is a terrible detective, and at this point in his life, I can’t see him ever taking them again – or feeling the need to follow Natalie to Hawaii. But the plot needs him in Hawaii, so best overlook that aspect.

As with most of the series of books, there are several little crimes dotted around the major plot and this major plot is a lot stronger than the first book. It even has something that a less alert reader might consider a genuine surprise at the end – I honestly can’t remember if I was caught out the first time – but the plot is clever and has some complexity to it, although the nitpicker might wonder how SPOILER does SPOILER to every SPOILER that he SPOILERS in.

The little stories are pretty good too – the opener about the poisoning mid-operation of the surgeon is rather far-fetched and Monk must be psychic to sort it out, but the others are strong enough and feature some lovely Monk moments. The author still has “Monk likes even numbered things” as his go-to quirk, which I don’t recall being so heavily used in the series, but it’s not as heavy as in the first book. There are also some lovely bits between Monk and Natalie, as she is conflicted by Dylan Swift giving her messages from her dead husband.

[ASIDE: This episode mentions Mitch, Natalie’s late husband, being accused of cowardice, abandoning his soldiers when he died. Was this a) ever mentioned in the show and b) if so, was it ever resolved?]

All in all, this is a fun book, and the central mystery does have a clue or two knocking around, even if the killer’s plan is a tad convoluted. Looking forward the Book Three…