 James Chamberlin of IGN was " excited to see the show return " for a Christmas special but was disappointed in the underutilization of Miller 's character , and the lack of any further clues to the mystery surrounding the death of Adrian Monk 's wife , Trudy , despite several mentions of the event during the episode . Ted Cox of the Chicago @-@ area Daily Herald stated that the episode was " not even as good as last year 's Christmas special " ( " Mr. Monk Meets His Dad " ) , and also laments mention of Trudy 's unsolved murder without the " element of lost love " that " made the early ' Monks ' great " . In the same vein , Diane Werts , writing for Newsday , declared it was " [ a ] nother opportunity missed " to deepen into Trudy 's death . Comparing it to Psych episode " Gus 's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy " , David Kronke of Los Angeles Daily News said " Psych manages [ to inveigle viewers to feel the holiday spirit ] tonight ; Monk , not so much . " Although the plot is " easy to figure out " , Chicago Tribune 's Maureen Ryan criticized how the episode " seem [ s ] a bit flat " . 
