The Good Lie

Because The Good Lie is a commercial crime thriller, mystery is its primary focus, and a common symbol of a mystery is the puzzle. Mysteries are often referred to as puzzles with missing pieces. In The Good Lie, puzzles appear as a frequent motif, both literally and figuratively. In Chapter 10, Gwen is solving a puzzle in her home; she studies it while contemplating John’s death and musing on her failure to perceive the signs that John would likely kill his wife. Gwen makes frequent metaphorical references to puzzles, and the Bloody Heart Killer case is repeatedly portrayed as a puzzle with missing pieces, something that Gwen is struggling to solve. Robert’s ability to solve the mystery quickly symbolizes his relationship to the case; he is constantly one step ahead of Gwen and understands more of the case’s “puzzle” than she does. When Gwen finds out that John was the Blood Heart Killer and realizes her indirect culpability in Gabe’s death, she describes this moment in puzzle-related terms as well, saying that “dread suddenly settled in as a half dozen pieces clicked into place” (214). Gwen realizes that much like a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces have been present all along; she simply fails to put them together.