Mr. Monk Helps Himself by Hy Conrad ~ Virtual Author Book Tour with review

Publisher: Penguin USA (June 4, 2013)

Category: Cozy Mystery
Tour Date: August, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-451-24093-4
Available in: Print & eBook,  286 Pages

Mr. Monk Helps Himself is an all-new mystery, written by Hy Conrad, the Edgar Award-nominated screenwriter and co-executive producer of Monkand starring the characters from the wildly successful television series.

Now that Monk and Natalie are both in San Francisco again, life is almost back to normal, with one exception:  Natalie is studying for her PI license, the last step to becoming Monk’s full partner.

Before taking the plunge, Natalie sneaks off to Half Moon Bay for a retreat run by Miranda Bigley, charismatic leader of the “Best Possible Me” self-help program, whose philosophy has helped Natalie deal with her recent life changes.  Her plans for a relaxing weekend are disrupted when Monk tracks her down, determined to rescue her from the “cult.”  Their argument is cut short when Miranda, in full view of everyone, calmly walks to the edge of a cliff and jumps off.

Even though Miranda’s death looks like suicide—especially when it’s discovered that she was on the brink of financial disaster—Natalie is sure it is murder.  But Monk brushes her off to help the SFPD solve the murder of a clown, despite his fear of clowns—number ninety-nine on his list of one hundred phobias.

Natalie and Monk begin their separate investigations and are quickly caught up in situations neither one of them can handle.  If they want to solve both crimes – and survive – they first need to learn how to be full partners.  Can Monk handle the change?

My take on this book:

I love watching the Monk tv series and still get my fix with reruns, but honestly "Mr.Monk Helps Himself" is my first attempt at getting my Mr. Monk mystery in book form, and honestly I was a bit leery that the story would somehow be lacking, but I shouldn't have worried the book was fantastic! While Mr. Conrad's style was a bit different he did provide me with the Monk that I know and love. His phobias and fears, along with his distinct voice was captured perfectly,  making me feel as if I was hearing the dialogue as I read it!  The characters are really very well developed and I felt like the character of Natalie is really coming into her own. I love seeing the duo of Monk and Natalie work together to come to the conclusion! Anyone who has ever watched the tv series should check this one out, but honestly anyone who enjoys a well written mystery where the characters are a bit quirky and there are more than a few laughs along with a clever ending will certainly want to check out "Mr. Monk Helps Himself." 

About Hy Conrad:

Hy Conrad was one of the original writers on the USA Network television series Monk and stayed with the series for all eight seasons, acting as co-executive producer for the last two seasons and garnering three Edgar® Award nominations. In addition, Hy was head writer of the webisode series Little Monk and served as consulting producer and writer on the USA series White Collar.

He is the author of hundreds of short stories, dozens of interactive mysteries, and ten books of solvable whodunits, sold around the world in fourteen languages. His first mystery novel series, Abel Adventures, premiered in 2012, with the publication of Rally ’Round the Corpse.  On a more humorous note, Hy is also the author of Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want You to Know.

Author Website: http://www.hyconrad.com/
Hy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hyconrad
Hy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HyConrad?fref=ts

Buy Mr. Monk Helps Himself:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Follow the Tour:

So Many Precious Books Aug 1 Spotlight & Giveaway
Bookworm Aug 2 Review
Cozie Corner Aug 5 Review
Back To Books Aug 6 Review
Rikki’s Teleidoscope Aug 7 Review
A Chick Who Reads Aug 8 Review
A Chick Who Reads Aug 9 Guest Post
Butterfly-o-Meter Books Aug 12 Review
Booksie’s Blog Aug 13 Review
Quilted Reviews  & Cheryl’s Book Nook Aug 14 Review
Books, Books, & More Books Aug 15 Review
Books, Books, & More Books Aug 16 Interview
Book Lover Stop Aug 19 Review
Wolf Majick Reviews Aug 20 Review
Wolf Majick Reviews Aug 21 Guest Post
Sammy the Bookworm Aug 22 Review
 VW Stitcher Aug 23 Review
Recent Reads Aug 26 Review
Recent Reads Aug 27 Guest Post
The News in Books Aug 28 Review
The News in Books Aug 29 Guest Post
I’d Rather Be At the Beach Aug 29 Review
I’d Rather Be At the Beach Aug 30 Guest Post & Giveaway
WTF Are You Reading Aug 30 Review & Giveaway
Romance & Inspiration  Aug 31 Review
Tabula Rasa Sept 3 Review
Socrates Book Reviews Sept 4 Review
Over a Cuppa Coffee Sept 5 Review
Over a Cuppa Coffee Sept 6 Interview & Giveaway
Bloggin Bout Books Sept 9 Review
Rainy Days & Mondays Sept 10 Review                                                         

 Sweeps4Bloggers Sept 11 Review & Giveaway
The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia Sept 12 Review
Library of  Clean Reads Sept 16 Review
Library of  Clean Reads Sept 17 Interview
Networking Witches Sept 18 Review
Joy Story Sept 19 Review
Book Lover’s Library Sept 23 Review
Book Lover’s Library Sept 24 Interview & Giveaway
Green Mountain Couple Sept 25 Review
DWED Sept 26 Review
DWED Sept 27 Interview
Suko’s Notebook Sept 30 Review