Linda Fusco

Linda Fusco is a realtor and the main villainess in the Season Six episode of Monk titled, "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend."

She was played by Sharon Lawrence.

Linda Fusco first appeared in the Season Five Monk episode, "Mr. Monk, Private Eye," and hired Monk and Natalie in a case of a minor accident involving her car, which later had them on the case of an unrelated murder. It was in this episode she met Leland Stottlemeyer, who had just recently been divorced, and the two formed a romantic relationship. In the events of "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend," Linda rented a moving van and set up a fake room to resemble her bedroom and spoke to Stottlemeyer via webcam. After the conversation ended, Linda donned a black body suit and mask and shot her real estate partner, Sean Corcoran, killing him. After an investigation, Monk and Natalie conclude that Linda did it, but when they tell Stottlemeyer, he refuses to believe them.

Natalie later poses as a buyer and keeps Linda busy while Monk searches Linda's house and finds the rifle that was used in the murder. During Monk's interrogation, the evil Linda attempts to seduce Monk, but he turns her down because of his devotion to Stottlemeyer and his deceased wife, Trudy. To further get Monk off her trail, Linda tells Stottlemeyer that Monk tried to seduce her, but Stottlemeyer, knowing Monk's nature, has trouble believing that. Monk later shows up with the moving van that Linda rented and gives a summation of how she killed her partner. The one thing that did Linda in was the fact that in her fake bedroom, a pen rolled and fell off the dresser, which meant Linda most likely parked on a hill.

No motive was revealed, but Stottlemeyer suggested that Linda's whole relationship with him was just part of her plan to get away with murder.