My Blog

Mr. Monk and the Paperback Critic

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Chicago Tribune critic Dick Adler has started a blog to cover all the
paperback mysteries that he isn’t able to squeeze into his regular
column. Here’s his review of MR. MONK GOES TO HAWAII…

A surprising number of my friends and relatives love the Monk
TV series so much that they ask me to get them signed copies of Lee
Goldberg’s books based on it. Judging by this latest outing, where the
weird cop follows his assistant, Natalie, on holiday, they’re on to a
good thing. Goldberg makes Adrian Monk much more interesting than the
TV version: the twitches are less obvious, the outcomes much less
predictable. Even (or especially) the secondary characters are more
interesting and have sharper dialogue.

Thanks, Dick!

Celebrity Blogs

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Today the always hilarious Ken Levine takes a look at Celebrity websites and blogs. Among his observations:

Melanie Griffiths’s website is just plain creepy. It chronicles her
romance and rehab, accompanied by music that Norma Desmond would find
too over-the-top. She also writes letters to her inner self. Many not
delivered because no one’s home.

Latest entry in Gwen Stefani’s journal: “We’re back. Sorry it has been
so long. We’ll start updating the site more often.” It’s dated May 2.

Bittersweet Sacrifice

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You can always count on the Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels for a good laugh, especially when they are skewering bad romance novel covers. This is my favorite from today’s collection:

Sarah: Yeah, you know what that bittersweet sacrifice is? Marrying him knowing that he’s GAY.

Or, now that I take a closer look, it could be that the one on the left
has to sacrifice her schmeckie because she’s a MAN, baby, YEAH.

Candy: Once again: Willem Dafoe in drag is NOT an acceptable substitute for a female model.

Mr. Monk Goes to Dunnyman’s Castle

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Greg Hopper at the Dunnyman’s Castle Blog gives MR.  MONK GOES TO HAWAII a great review. He says, in part:

OK, I thought the first book in the series was just a great ride
through the world of Adrian Monk, and it was. The second one, wow, it’s
even better.
It seems Natalie Teeger is on her way to Hawaii, for a
friend’s wedding. She’s not sure how to tell Monk she’ll be gone for a
week and leaves it up until the last minute, only telling Monk the day
before she leaves.
BAD IDEA.
Needless to say, Monk tags along (the how of him getting to Hawaii is hilarious), and leaves a trail of mayhem wherever he goes.

Thanks, Greg!

Maverick DVD

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MAVERICK was an incredible TV series that was way, way ahead of its
time. This DVD sampler is nice… but it’s no substitute for a
feature-packed DVD boxed set produced by someone like Paul Brownstein
(who did the amazing GUNSMOKE, WILD WILD WEST and DICK VAN DYKE boxed sets).
But if Warner Brothers ever wants to do another MAVERICK sampler, let’s see one that
includes the "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" episode from the original
MAVERICK, the unsold ABC pilot THE NEW MAVERICK, the pilot from the CBS
series YOUNG MAVERICK, and the first and last episodes of the NBC
series BRET MAVERICK. Seeing "Shady Deal" and the last episode of BRET
MAVERICK (in which Jack Kelly makes a surprise appearance as Bart)
would make nice bookends to the entire MAVERICK saga.

High Praise

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THE 12 O’CLOCK HIGH LOGBOOK by Allan Duffin and Paul Matheis is an amazingly detailed analysis of every version of 12 O’CLOCK HIGH (what a great idea for a book).
Whether or not you are a fan of the original 12 O’CLOCK HIGH novel,  movie or the TV series,
this is a fascinating and informative look at how a single "property"
was exploited across three very different mediums. Just the section on the
TV series alone is worth the purchase price for the informative, inside glimpse at how the
show was developed and produced, from pilot to cancellation. This book is a must-read for TV geeks like me… as well as any student of television.

Agent 007, eh?

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My friend David Breckman wrote and produced a hilarious pilot for USA Network called UNDERFUNDED, about a spy for the Canadian Secret Service (yes, they have one).  He’s still waiting to hear if USA is going to pick it up. But in the mean time, the Canadian Broadcasting Company (yes, they have TV networks up there) has announced that production has begun on INTELLIGENCE, a Canadian drama series (yes, they still have a couple shows of their own up there) about, you guessed it, Canadian spies (yes, they have them). The show is from Chris Haddock, the Canadian Steven Bochco, with financial help from every Canadian government entity except, it seems, the Department of Fish & Game.

“Intelligence takes place in the underworld where crime and
government meet. Part mystery, part thriller, all character and
conspiracy,” says Haddock. “It’s a new and volatile mix of gangster and
spy genres that should be pretty addictive. It’s gonna be a lot of fun
to watch.”

Intelligence is a Haddock Entertainment production produced with the
financial participation of CBC, Telefilm Canada, the CTF – License Fee
Program, the Canadian Western Independent Program Fund, the Canadian
and British Columbian Production Tax Credit Programs and CBC
International Sales.

Mr. Monk and the Signings

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I started my day out at Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks, where I signed copies of MR. MONK GOES TO HAWAII. I was joined by my old friends Terry Erdman & Paula Block, who were signing their book, MONK: THE OFFICIAL EPISODE GUIDE. A lot of friendly and enthusiastic folks showed up, including the shockingly bald Mark Baker, Monk Superfan-of-the-Week Tami and Monk Fun Page Mistress Teresa, who schlepped all the way down from San Francisco with her dashing boyfriend, photographer, driver, and nurse in tow. We talked about all the usual things — Monk, BREASTS, Diagnosis Murder,  bowel movements, publishing, bowel movements, TV production,  BREASTS, studio licensing  and mid-western cheerleaders (which is really just another way of saying BREASTS).

All the talk of BREASTS at the signing actually came up because of an
Amazon review. The reader was upset that BREASTS were mentioned in MR.
MONK GOES TO HAWAII. I think she may be the same reader who was upset
that BREASTS were mentioned in MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE, too.  I have a
feeling she’s really not going to like my next Monk book, MR. MONK AND
THE ENORMOUS BREASTS, where I am sure to mention BREASTS more than once. Maybe twice.

From there, we hurried across the valley and over the Sepulveda Pass to The Mystery Book Store in Westwood, where we did more of the same. We were hosted by Linda, Bobby, and Ken Levine’s lovely daughter Annie, all of whom, unlike the Naked Bookseller of Quartzsite, were clothed. However, I believe they are rethinking this policy and exploring the competitive possibilities of becoming LA’s first clothing-optional mystery bookstore.