A former San Francisco police detective suffering from an extreme case of obsessive-compulsive disorder is called in to investigate an apparent assassination attempt of a mayoral candidate in which one of his bodyguards is killed.

With an introduction to Monk's talent, his phobia's, and need for an assistant, Monk investigates the murder of the candidate bodyguard and a political worker. He determines the candidate was not the intended target.

A panicky woman driver goes off the road thanks to a skid block placed by her husband, former police commissioner Harry Ashcombe. The next morning Dolly Flint, a psychic on first name terms with Captain Stottlemeyer (who has arrested her three times on bunko charges) wakes up in her car next to the site of the staged accident. Dolly insists that she was led to the site by the dead woman's aura, but Monk is suspicious. At the memorial service held in the dead woman's expensive home, Monk figures out what the audience already knows--that Ashcombe is the murderer. With the aid of Ashcombe's mistress, Monk, the captain, and Dolly stage a psychic reading to catch the killer. Written by WyattJones

A 911 call from a judge identifies the man who is about to murder her as rich and obscenely fat financier Dale Biederbeck. But Dale the Whale weighs over 800 pounds and can't get up from his bed, making it impossible for him to have committed the murder, despite the 911 call and the testimony of a ten-year-old witness who saw an extremely fat man through the window of the judge's house. The fact that Biederbeck sued Monk's wife for libel after she criticized his ethics in a newspaper article gives Monk added incentive to find him guilty. While Monk and Captain Stottlemeyer try to figure out how Dale could have committed the murder, Sharona gets her chance to play Lois Lane, or rather Florence Nightingale, by briefly serving as Biederbeck's nurse instead of Monk's. She also finds herself attracted to Dale's private physician, Christian Vezza. Written by WyattJones

Lieutenant Adam Kirk (Stephen McHattie) is dropped off at a local carnival, where he is to meet with an informant, John Gitomer. Gitomer promises to give Kirk information on a massive shipment of purple haze coming in, but insists that they go on the Ferris wheel first. They get on the wheel, but just as the wheel starts up, Gitomer starts screaming for someone to stop the ride, as though he's being attacked by Kirk. When the operator shuts down the wheel and Kirk disembarks, Gitomer is dead with a knife stabbed through his heart. Internal Affairs believes that the hot-headed Kirk lost his temper, but Stottlemeyer believes Kirk to be innocent and brings Monk in to clear his name, while Monk simultaneously prepares for a reinstatement hearing. Written by dmreif

Monk is committed to an asylum, where he becomes convinced the chief psychiatrist committed a murder several years prior.

When billionaire software magnate Sidney Teal is shot dead by ex-cop Archie Modine after allegedly turning mugger and another policeman mysteriously flees the scene, Stottlemeyer calls in Monk to investigate. Not only is the idea of a billionaire turning mugger hard to swallow, the circumstances of the mugging are suspicious. Why, for example, would a mugger wear knee and elbow pads? Meanwhile, Sharona threatens to quit (this time for sure) when her paycheck bounces, and Stottlemeyer is hounded by reporters demanding information on Fraidy Cop. Unable to continue the investigation without Sharona's help, Monk returns to the seemingly unsolvable mystery of his wife's murder only to find that his new clue isn't new; he's already talked to writer Kelly Street three times. Sharona finds that selling lamps isn't nearly as much fun as working for Monk (with or without money) and comes to the rescue with a new clue involving Teal and Modine. Written by WyattJones

When a lawyer and his assistant are murdered, suspicion falls on a disgruntled client whose burnt file is found in the wastebasket. When the suspect, Grayson, is also murdered, Stottlemeyer is certain that Grayson's neighbor, a pretty blonde named Monica Waters who has been feuding with Grayson for two years about her garage, is guilty of all three murders. But Monk is attracted to Monica, who bears a slight resemblance to Trudy. Because Monica's absent husband had OCD, she understands Monk in a way that Sharona can't, which of course adds to the attraction. Even her garage is perfect, exactly the way Monk would want his garage to be organized if he ever had one. A touching bond forms between them until a call from Stottlemeyer leads him to suspect that Monica may really be the murderer. Written by WyattJones

A woman is murdered during the San Francisco marathon and Monk suspects her married lover, Trevor McDowell, even though he was running in the race. Although McDowell disappears from the video tape of the race less than halfway through and reappears only at the end, the data from a computer chip indicates that he was present at all checkpoints during the race. After interrogating the murdered woman's ex-husband as a possible suspect only to find that his alibi is probably credible, a frustrated Stottlemeyer provides Monk with a brilliant suggestion--that the computer chip was passed off to someone else during the race. Monk meanwhile has the chance to visit his hero, an aging runner from Nigeria whom Sharona briefly suspects may be the murderer's accomplice--a theory Monk refuses even to consider. When Monk figures out what really happened, he must catch the murderer himself to prove his theory. Written by WyattJones

Monk's beach resort vacation with Sharona and Benjy turns into work when Benjy witnesses a murder. But with no body to be found and the cleanest crime scene in the history of crime, Benjy can't convince anyone except Monk and the hotel's kooky security chief that he's telling the truth. Believing that Benjy's imagination is working overtime and determined to enjoy her vacation, Sharona takes unneeded tennis lessons from yet another Mr. Wrong while Monk and his new assistant follow what turns out to be a false lead. Benjy spots the body only to have it disappear again, and the security chief reveals Monk's own room to be contaminated with some of the fourteen bodily fluids detected by her infrared spectra-light. When Monk figures out who stole four bags of lime from the grounds supervisor's shed, he solves the case. Unfortunately, his time at the hotel is almost up and the body still has not been found. Written by WyattJones

Renowned philanthropist Henry Rutherford is killed when a minor earthquake rocks the city and sends a display case falling on top of him. But when Monk examines the scene, he finds clues that suggest foul play.

Country singer Willie Nelson, who portrays himself, becomes the prime suspect when his manager is murdered, but the only witness is a blind woman who claims to have overheard a scuffle and can identify Willie as the murderer by his voice. At first Stottlemeyer (who is on the case despite a broken arm) is reluctant to arrest the famous singer on such shaky evidence, but a video tape convinces him that Willie must indeed be guilty. But for Monk, the fact that a note used to lure the victim to his death refers to him as J. Cross while Willie refers to him as Sonny casts doubt on the blind woman's story. Determined for the sake of his dead wife, Trudy, a devoted fan, to prove the singer innocent, Monk interviews the blind woman and investigates the manager's less than reputable background, searching for the clue he needs to clear the singer's name. Written by WyattJones

Thinking that he's just accompanying Sharona to the airport to pick up her aunt, Monk discovers to his dismay that she's the one making the flight. The choice between being on his own without Sharona or flying cross-country to New Jersey is a tough one, but he overcomes his fears and boards the plane. After annoying the passengers and crew with his first-time-flier questions, he becomes even more unsettled after small anomalies convince him that the Frenchman sitting across the aisle has murdered his wife and the woman accompanying him is an impostor. He calls Captain Stottlemeyer only to find that it's the captain's day off but manages to persuade Lt. Disher to search the airport for a body. With on-and-off help from Sharona (who would rather be helping Tim Daly decide whether to accept a role in an upcoming film) and from the extension cord salesman in the seat next to him, Monk tries to provide the evidence Disher needs to order the arrest. Meanwhile another murder is committed ... Written by WyattJones