Is there such thing as a "perfect" murder? A murder where there are no clues, no witnesses, not even a body? In "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, Amy attempts to frame her husband, Nick, for her own death. Her plan might not have resulted in a perfect murder, but it certainly did prove to be a great revenge plan. She left clues that only Nick could discern, clues that made him appear guilty but showed him that she was responsible for framing him for her disappearance. She plans everything near perfectly but has a change of heart at the end that sends her crawling back into his cheating arms. This book became so popular that director David Fincher made a movie out of it. Despite keeping the basic plotline the same, there were major differences in the wife's plan and characterization throughout the story.
Both the movie and the book have similar storylines. In the beginning, a wife is missing. As the story goes on, we are told of her disappearance through the husband's perspective up until her journal is found. It is only upon this discovery that we really start to doubt the husband's innocence. Soon, we discover that her faked disappearance was part of a greater plot to get back at him for cheating on her. She also fakes a pregnancy and plants clues for the police that will make her husband look like a liar. However, things don't go as anticipated. She gets robbed, "one hand smashed over my face, and with the other, she pulls up my dress, yanks off the money belt" (Flynn, 2012, p. 307). Amy is then forced to reach out to a former boyfriend who was obsessed with her, or so she claims. This ex-boyfriend, Desi, takes her in, thinking that he is sheltering the victim of domestic abuse. When her husband pleas for her safe return on the news, Amy is touched and decides to abandon her unsuccessful plan for a new one. This new plan involves the murder of Desi so that she can claim that he kidnapped her all along.