The future is looking bright for Adrian Monk. Natalie is working as a cop in Summit, his brother is a week away from getting married, and Monk has a new assistant--and even a girlfriend.

All this change doesn't keep him from work, though. He's investigating a string of accidental deaths and suicides that he believes are actually murders. But when Monk's suspect is killed, he must face the fact that he might be wrong. Have stability and happiness robbed Monk of his mojo?

Meanwhile, Monk's imprisoned arch nemesis, the morbidly obese criminal mastermind Dale the Whale, is being transferred from prison to San Francisco General Hospital for an operation. When Dale escapes and all signs point to Captain Stottlemeyer as his accomplice, Monk will have to reboot his detective skills to clear the captain's name--and prove that he's still the one and only Monk.