
After the unsolved murder of his wife, Adrian Monk develops obsessive-compulsive disorder, which includes his terror of germs and contamination. His condition costs him his job as a prominent homicide detective in the San Francisco Police Department, but he continues to solve crimes with the help of his assistant and his former boss.

After his paperboy is murdered on his doorstep, Monk turns to the pages of the newspaper for clues about the baffling crime.

Monk's estranged older brother Ambrose calls him about a life-or-death matter; he is convinced his neighbor has been killed by her husband.

Monk solves a murder mystery while waiting with his brother for their long-lost father to return home.

When Monk and Natalie get stuck in a small desert town, he must uncover the link between a missing woman and a UFO sighting.