Gumshoe Adrian Monk would never actually have gum on his well-polished shoes: in addition to intellect and instinct, he also has obsessive-compulsive disorder. Though his eccentric traits bewilder his colleagues Natalie Teeger, Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher, Monk’s attention to detail keeps crime—and grime—off the streets.
When a union boss' death threatens to prolong a city wide garbage strike in San Francisco, it's up to Monk to help end the strike by determining whether the boss' death was suicide or murder.
When Natalie convinces Monk to go into business as a private eye, his first case is a seemingly innocuous fender bender that leads to a far more dangerous investigation.
A fun-loving everyman named Hal bumps into Monk, and the two become fast friends. For the first time in his life, Monk appears to have a buddy. But is Hal up to something?
When Lt. Disher inherits a farm from an uncle who committed suicide, he decides to quit the police force and start a new life in the country. But Disher soon suspects that his uncle was murdered, so Monk joins him on the farm to investigate.
When the mysterious "Six Way Killer" strikes in San Francisco, Monk's detective skills are pitted against the flashy forensic technology of a federal agent as they both pursue the murderer.
Monk goes to the emergency room for a bloody nose, but when a doctor in the hospital turns up dead, Monk joins the murder investigation, and soon his own life is in grave danger.