Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants is the fourth novel based on the television series Monk by Lee Goldberg. It is the first Monk novel to be published in hardcover, on July 3, 2007. The paperback edition was released on January 2, 2008. Plot summary Adrian Monk and Natalie Teeger take Julie to the hospital after she breaks her wrist during a soccer game. Monk sees his old assistant Sharona Fleming working as a nurse. She explains that after leaving Monk's employ to remarry her ex-husband, Trevor Howe and move to New Jersey, a friend of Trevor's from Los Angeles sold his landscaping business to Trevor. They moved to Los Angeles and took over the business. However, one of his clients, Ellen Cole, was found bludgeoned to death with a lamp in her house. Evidence suggests Trevor killed Cole when she caught him stealing her jewelry. Sharona has no trouble believing this in light of Trevor's addiction to get-rich-quick schemes, so she and Benjy have moved back to San Francisco, with Benjy staying with Sharona's sister Gail. Sharona would like her old job with Monk back, and there is hostility between her and Natalie. Moreover, after visiting Trevor in prison Natalie is convinced that he is innocent and that he sincerely reformed prior to remarrying Sharona. To save her job, she pressures Sharona and Monk to travel to Los Angeles and investigate Trevor's case. Julie is inspired to rent the space on her cast to local businesses, a marketing technique which she dubs "cast-vertising". A pizzeria, Sorrento's, purchases her cast space and even agrees to pay her a sales commission if enough customers mention the offer printed on her cast, which gives them a discount if Julie is in Sorrento's at the time. Monk, Natalie and Sharona meet Lieutenant Sam Dozier of the Los Angeles Police Department and visit Cole's house. Monk examines the scene and concludes that Trevor is innocent. He notices several clues that suggest Ellen Cole's killer was waiting for her, meaning that the murder was premeditated. They question some of the people closest to the victim, but Monk is convinced none of them is the killer. Monk, Natalie and Sharona head down to a bookstore to question the person who found the evidence to convict Trevor, LAPD consultant Ian Ludlow. Ludlow is a household name, writing his Detective Marshak novels at a rate of one every