Another normal day for Monk and Natalie takes an unusual turn when Randy Disher, police captain and acting mayor of Summit, New Jersey, asks them to come down for a brief stint helping him maintain law and order. On the insistence of Monk's old assistant/friend Sharona, the pair find themselves working the streets of Summit, trying to solve a mysterious series of burglaries while adjusting to the town, which gradually reveals corruption hiding in every corner.
This book contains examples of the following tropes:
- Afraid of Their Own Strength: After she successfully stops a mini-mart robbery, Natalie feels disturbed by the what-ifs — not just that she could have gotten hurt, but that she might have been wrong in her hunch or have injured an innocent by accident. Monk reassures her by telling her that her self-criticism proves she's a good cop; a reckless wannabe only interested in the thrill wouldn't think about the consequences.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Sharona and Natalie both use one of Monk's catchphrases during the trip to New Jersey.
- Commonality Connection: Lt. Devlin decides she likes Sharona just seconds after meeting her for the first time because both of them apply a forceful approach to Monk.
- Continuity Nod:
- Dig Your Own Grave: When Natalie, Monk, and Disher finally catch up with Trina Fishbeck, Joel Goldman has her at the business end of a shotgun, having forced her to dig the pit where he plans to bury her body.
- Dirty Cop: Monk and Natalie get brought to Summit, New Jersey to help police chief Randy Disher, who has become acting mayor after most of the town government got indicted for corruption. Their first day on patrol, Monk and Natalie find themselves dealing with serial burglars, who as it turns out are two of Randy's own cops, at least one of whom also threw a molotov cocktail through Monk's window to scare or kill him. When they're caught, Lindero pulls a gun on Disher and Monk and takes Natalie hostage.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: Ellen Morse asks Natalie if she irked her, saying that she was worried she'd irritated Natalie by putting the moves on her man. Natalie tells Ellen that Monk is her boss and her friend, but not her boyfriend.
- I Ate WHAT?!:
- Later on, she gives her a cup of coffee, which Natalie thoroughly enjoys until Ellen mentions that it's made from beans eaten and then pooped out by civets. Natalie has to restrain herself from throwing up.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: One of Disher's cops, Ray Lindero, leers at Natalie after accidentally seeing her half-clothed during a midnight crime bust and again when he takes her hostage. Natalie understandably worries what's going to happen to her while she's stuck with him and his partner.
- I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: Randy says that he's having trouble being acting mayor, given that he's a policeman, not a politician. Stottlemeyer tells him that to be a captain, one has to be both.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Cameron Griswold protests his innocence and tells the police they should be looking for the rapist who killed Rebecca Baylin. Then Lt. Devlin points out that they never said that the crime scene had been set up as though Rebecca was the victim of an attempted assault.
- Never Mess with Granny: Evie, the front desk officer, may be an older lady, but nonetheless she is tough as nails, subduing a much younger cop with no fight and almost no argument.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Woodlake, one of the cops who were committing the burglaries, instantly turns on his partner once alone with an interrogator, offering to testify against him in exchange for a lessened sentence.
- Rescue Reversal: A comedic example; Monk rushes into Poop to rescue Natalie after she lets Ellen Morse give her a tour. By the time she gets over to him, he's in the midst of an anxiety attack and says she can save him.
- Take Me Instead: Monk tries to offer himself as a hostage in Natalie's place, but Lindero refuses.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Sharona slips a sedative into Monk's Fiji water to make the flight easier.
- Would Rather Suffer: When Monk asks Lindero to take him hostage instead of Natalie, Lindero says he'd rather go to prison than have to deal with Monk as a hostage. Monk, being Literal-Minded, thinks they've solved the problem.
