The Friday 56: Coulrophobia, and the Monk Book Winner

Are you afraid of clowns?  Do you believe that their garish faces and outlandish costumes hide evil interiors?  It's difficult to say exactly how common this phobia is, or if it's prevalence is exaggerated.  But it's no mystery that Adrian Monk's list of one hundred major phobias includes coulrophobia.

" 'Hazard pay?'  Stottlemeyer snorted.  'For one thing, you're a homicide consultant, so it's always hazardous.  That's the job.
And . . . it's a clown, for God's sake.  A clown!'
'Don't say that!'  Monk shuddered and sank away."
 ~ Mr. Monk Helps Himself, Hy Conrad

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice.  If you want to play along, the rules are simple:

• Grab a book, any book.
• Turn to page 56.
• Find a sentence, or a few, to share in a post. 
• Add your post's link to the linky.

I'm also ready to announce the winner of the giveaway for Mr. Monk Helps Himself by Hy Conrad, a book I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing recently for Premier Virtual Author Book Tours.  Please help me to congratulate the lucky winner, Carol M.  Congratulations, Carol!  I think you'll enjoy reading this marvelous mystery.  If you didn't win this novel, why not take a look at the other giveaways listed in my blog's right sidebar?  You might discover another book that you'd like to win.

Thanks for reading!  Your comments are welcomed, as always.
Joseph Grimaldi clown picture courtesy of Wikipedia. 

Mr. Monk Helps Himself: Review and Giveaway

Have you met Monk yet?  This was my first meeting with detective Adrian Monk, "a brilliant San Francisco detective whose obsessive compulsive disorder just happens to get in the way". Published in the summer of 2013, Mr. Monk Helps Himself by Hy Conrad is a cozy mystery, the first novel in the series to be written by this author, who spent eight years writing for the Monk television series.  The book is set in San Francisco (one of my favorite cities), and is narrated by Monk's assistant, Natalie Teeger, who's studying for her PI license.

"Monk himself isn't a licensed PI.  For one thing, he's horrible at tests.  Not because of the questions, but because he has to sharpen and resharpen the pencil and then fill in every circle so that it's completely black and within the borders. So it's up to me to get the license and incorporate and make our business legit.  Monk and Tegger, Consulting Detectives."
~ Mr. Monk Helps Himself, Hy Conrad    

Natalie is at a Best Possible Me retreat when the leader, Miranda Bigley, suddenly jumps off a cliff.   Her death looks like suicide, but Natalie supects it's murder.  Adrian Monk is also at the self-help retreat at Half Moon Bay, to rescue Natalie from this apparent cult.  But Detective Monk, who suffers from OCD and has numerous issues with cleanliness, aardvarks, and other things, is mostly concerned about helping the SFPD solve the case of a murder of a clown, even though he suffers from intense coulrophobia, the fear of clowns.

My first impression of the Monk series is quite a favorable one.  The title of this book is perfect, Hy Conrad's writing seems effortless, and the book is funny and riveting.  I loved the humor that runs through the book, which brings us Monk's obsession with cleaning light bulbs, and a shop named Poop on Union Street, although the book has an affecting, underlying sadness as well, because Monk's wife, Trudy, was killed by a car bomb, which remains a devastating, unsolved murder.  We have empathy for Monk, who was fired from the SFPD when his fears grew disabling, and hired back four years later as a consulting detective because of his keen ability to solve perplexing cases.

Although I like to figure things out myself whenever I read a mystery, perhaps most importantly, I've rediscovered something else--cozy mysteries are fun and entertaining!  At least, good ones are.  Additionally, Mr. Monk Helps Himself sparked my interest in watching the TV series, which I'd heard of but have never seen.  (Naturally, I turned to Wikipedia for help in this area.)  Monk (2002 - 2009; eight seasons) is an American detective television series created by Andy Breckman, starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk.  Having read this one book, I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy watching the TV series as well, largely because the characters, especially Natalie, Monk, Ellen, and Devlin, are great.  By this I mean that they're quirky and caring and likable; I'm eager to see these mysteries enacted (and I love another TV mystery series, The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series).  I truly enjoyed reading this comedic yet heatrending mystery novel.  More Monk, please!

Wonderful news!  Author Hy Conrad is generously offering a copy of Mr. Monk Helps Himself as a giveaway to one randomly chosen reader.  This giveaway is international (U.S./Canada, choice of print or ebook; ebook elsewhere)!

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment. 
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or let me know that you're already a follower.
• For an additional chance, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 
• Have you read other Monk books, or watched the TV show?  If so, leave a comment about this for an additional entry.

Enter by 5 PM PDT on Thursday, October 10.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Friday, October 11.  Good luck!

Thanks to Teddy from Premier Virtual Author Book Tours for sending me a complimentary copy of this mystery novel.  I am the last stop on this book tour.  For more reviews and giveaways, please visit the other stops on the Mr. Monk Helps Himself book tour.

Mailbox Monday

My stacks runneth over.  It's time to take inventory.  Most of the books I got in the mail this summer are books that I won on other book blogs.  I won Belinda's Rings by Corrina Chong from Melwyk's blog, The Indextrious Reader, Redwood Bend by Robyn Carr and The Look of Love by Bella Andre from Kristin's blog, Always With a Book, and The Prosperous Heart, an audiobook, by Julia Cameron with Emma Lively from Laura's blog, Laura's Reviews.  Mr. Monk Helps Himself by Hy Conrad arrived in the mail for an upcoming review for Premier Virtual Author Book Tours.

Created by Marcia from To Be Continued, Mailbox Monday is a meme that gives us a wonderful way to share and showcase our new books.  Mailbox Monday is hosted this week by Kathy from BermudaOnion's Weblog.

What new books did you add to your stacks?