Adrian Monk was a brilliant San Francisco Police Department homicide investigator, but the death of his wife, Trudy, exacerbated his obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and led him to develop depression and multiple phobias. After refusing to leave his house for over three years, Monk, with the help of his nurse and assistant Sharona Fleming, begins working as a private detective and consultant for the police while continuing to investigate Trudy's unsolved murder. Monk helps Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Randy Disher solve baffling cases with the goal of being reinstated on the police force. Following Sharona's departure from San Francisco, Monk finds a new assistant in Natalie Teeger, a young widow and single mother.
