Desktop Murder: A Mystery Puzzle

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Dear Reader, there is something about me that you simply must understand before we continue. For the majority of my young life, I have been a staunch detractor of puzzles. Well, more specifically, a staunch detractor of jigsaw puzzles. I have always understood the appeal of a good brain tickler or a well written word game, but jigsaw puzzles have historically infuriated me to no end. The idea of sitting quietly while mindlessly putting pieces together made no sense to my young brain. And there's seemingly no point in wasting hours upon hours piecing together whatever mundane little image you are working on, for once you finished your puzzle, you are left with no choice but to dismantle your work. To repeat a sentiment I have long believed: Puzzles are dumb.

But, Dear Reader, this January, something shifted. Perhaps there was a change in the cosmos or a slippery fault line, but for whatever reason, I suddenly found myself wanting to puzzle.

If I were to dig deep within my psyche for an explanation for this inexplicable change, I would probably return with graduation as my answer. You see, in December of 2022, I graduated with my master's degree, and I left academia for the first time since entering the hallowed halls of my preschool. As soon as graduation started to feel like a real event, and not a mysterious and faraway milestone, I started to consider how I could make my life different post-academia. The biggest change I wanted to make, by far, was finding a way to detangle my self-worth from my productivity and scholastic success. I wanted to go completely cold turkey, and I challenged myself to avoid anything that could be considered "work" for at least a month. I traded in my world of assignments and tests for one of embroidery, late 90s tv shows, and reading multiple Nick Offerman memoirs.

However, no matter how hard I tried to detach myself from functioning society, I still had this deep desire for a sense of accomplishment. I embroidered compulsively because each time I finished a project, I was rewarded with a tangible representation of how I had used my time. I read nonstop because every time I added a new book to my pile of finished titles, I was further curating my shelf entitled, "See? I'm Not Wasting My Time, I'm Just So Erudite!". And each time I reached a new season in a show, I had a milestone to share with the world.

And so, the leap to puzzling was not a hard one. Suddenly, in my mind, puzzling was no longer a pointless endeavor. It was another way I could achieve accomplishment points during my month of nothing. Every new correctly placed puzzle piece was a proof of achievement and worth. Every found edge piece was an injection of dopamine straight into my bloodstream. And, of course, every time I finished a puzzle, I would post the completed picture to Instagram, essentially shouting to the world, "Look! I still have worth!".

Long story short, I suppose I was rather unsuccessful in my mission to uncouple myself from external validation for accomplishments. And I'm not even sure that I discovered the same love for puzzles that others seem to hold. To my understanding, folks who puzzle enjoy a sense of calm contentment while putting together the pieces. I, on the other hand, experience a heart-thumping anxiety while puzzling, similar to how one feels when you only have 5 minutes left to finish a final exam. And thus, I do not think I puzzle correctly, but I have grown to crave it nonetheless.

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Now, Dear Reader, I am duty bound to find a way to bring this all back to Murder, She Wrote. Have no fear, the Tangent Resolver is here.

For My 25th birthday, my sister sent me what can only be described as a perfectly timed gift: a MSW branded jigsaw puzzle. After holding on to it for a few months, I finally decided it was the perfect time to chip away at this puzzle, and I opened the box this week.

And leave it to JB and her team to create a puzzle that overcame the issues that I still have from my anti-puzzling days; this puzzle is the ideal puzzle. You must understand that this puzzle is also a murder mystery game. Included in the box is a booklet with a short story describing a murder and crime scene that Jessica Fletcher wanders into. After reading the story, you are instructed to put together the puzzle, which reveals a picture from the crime scene. This picture will contain all the clues needed to figure out who the murderer is. As I put together the puzzle, I realized this is an ingenious way of overcoming the inherent insanity of puzzles. Normally, the only reason to put together a puzzle is the act of puzzling. There is no reason outside of the puzzle itself. Here, however, the incentive is to solve another puzzle upon completion. Reason is given to the madness in a way that made my brain tingle with delight.

This puzzle is also a revolution because it does not come with a reference image. Because we need to put together the puzzle to solve the crime, they cannot show what the puzzle will look like upon completion. If they did this, there would be no reason to even complete the puzzle. One could simply solve the murder from the reference image. We are told from the story that we will be putting together an image of a desk, but beyond that vague description, no hints are given. This is great because it means that you feel that much smarter each time you correctly place a piece. With no outside help, this puzzle is far more rewarding than any other I have battled with thus far.

And finally, this puzzle is great because of how effortlessly it brings in core elements from the show. Just in case anyone is so moved as to scour eBay for their own copy of the puzzle, I will not give too much of the story away. But I will tell you that a fallen suit jacket button is a crucial clue to solving the puzzle, as it is on more episodes of MSW than I can count. It is little details like that which brought such joy to me as I put together this puzzle.

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Writing a conclusion to this is difficult to be sure, but here is the ending insight I have tonight. I am still struggling to find out who I am outside of an institution and grades, and while I have learned a unique love for puzzles, I still tend to approach them in a possibly unhealthy manner. But! Jessica, as she has again and again, found a way to bring me joy amidst the mess. And I thank her for that. And I thank my sister for finding this cool puzzle.