Life has changed for Natalie Teeger. After leaving San Francisco months ago to work as a temporary police officer in Summit, New Jersey, Natalie’s career in law enforcement has advanced beyond the role of mere assistant to renowned detective Adrian Monk.

Upon returning to San Francisco, Natalie sets her sights on passing the P.I. exam and becoming Monk’s partner.  As a first step in that direction, she begins calling him Adrian instead of Mr. Monk. This does not sit well with the obsessive-compulsive detective who hates change.

If there’s one thing that Monk hates more than change, it’s clowns. When part-time clown Dudley Smith—aka J.P. Tatters—dies after handling cash coated in poison, SFPD Captain Leland Stottlemeyer calls Monk in to consult.

Meanwhile, to help bolster her confidence and reduce her stress before taking the P.I. exam, Natalie turns to celebrated self-help guru Miranda Bigley, creator of the Best Possible Me program. Along with Monk’s new girlfriend Ellen, Natalie visits Miranda’s campus known as the Sanctuary. There, Miranda and her husband Damien teach several workshops including yoga, meditation, and self-affirmation.

On the day that Monk turns up at the Sanctuary to dissuade Natalie from joining this “cult”, Miranda Bigley leaps to her death in front of dozens of witnesses. It isn’t long before Natalie suspects that Miranda might actually have been murdered, but she is unable to enlist Monk’s help since he reluctantly agreed to assist Stottlemeyer track down the clown’s killer. Thus, Natalie recruits Ellen to infiltrate the Sanctuary in search of the truth surrounding Miranda’s death.

This is the first MONK novel written by Hy Conrad, who not only took over from the fabulous Lee Goldberg, but also wrote for the TV series. I missed the final two installments penned by Goldberg, but Conrad does an admirable job of filling in background details. In my humble opinion, this is not the best of the MONK novels, but I’ll give Conrad kudos for his first try. He maintains crisp pacing throughout the story and, with few exceptions, the same humorous banter between the characters as seen in the TV series. Even though all of the MONK novels are told from Natalie’s first-person POV, Mr. Monk Helps Himself is focused far more on her than on Monk, which might turn off some readers.