Feeling balanced after solving the murder of his wife Trudy, Adrian Monk and his assistant, Natalie Teeger, are called by Captain Stottlemeyer to the home of Nelson Derrick, an author who has apparently just committed suicide out of guilt over constantly ripping off his best novel.

After solving the case, Monk finally decides on his brother’s birthday present; a road trip in a motor home.

However, when the officers recognize Monk, they summon him to a crime scene in Santa Cruz, where a young woman appears to have accidentally drowned.

Upon stopping for the night, they meet several eclectic people, including a reporter named Dub Clemens who is determined to find a killer before he dies of lung cancer,[2] and his tattooed assistant Yuki.

[3] In the story, Monk is called upon to investigate an apparent suicide, and is disturbed by the fact that the walkway to the deceased's home has an odd number of steps.