Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu

Adrian Monk is horrified when he learns there's going to be a blue flu in San Francisco. He doesn't know what the blue flu is—but it sounds terrible. Captain Stottlemeyer explains that it's not really a virus: the police force plan to call in "sick" until they get a better contract. The good news is that the labor dispute will give Monk a chance to get back on the force. The bad news is, it means he'll be a "scab"—and he doesn't like the sound of that, either. Before he knows it, Monk has his badge back—and his own squad to command. Unfortunately, some of the squad members make Monk look like a paragon of mental health. But despite the challenges, they'll have to pull together to catch an astrologer's killer, solve a series of mysterious fatal assaults, and, most importantly, clean up their desks.

Lee Goldberg is a novelist and television writer whose TV scripting and producing credits include Diagnosis Murder, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Hunter, Spenser for Hire, She?Wolf of London, SeaQuest, 1-800-Missing, Martial Law, and Monk. He is currently on the board of the Mystery Writers of America and founded, with novelist Max Allan Collins, the International Association of Media Tie?in Writers.