colada-loving woman he was already seeing, it certainly seemed believable that someone could accidentally
go on a date with a murderer.
You might think that a story like Loves Music, Loves to Dance couldn’t take place in the internet era. A
personal ad in a print publication is one-way, a broadcast signal, belonging to a time when letters and
answering services were a thing, when an entire meet-cute (or mystery novel, for that matter) could hinge
on whether or not someone happened to be at home to receive a phone call at a particular time. By contrast,
the digital iteration of personal ads is all about instant communication. We can text, WhatsApp, FaceTime,
like, favourite, and swipe all day every day, and we can get a true sense of what someone is like based on the
information they’ve put online instead of relying on a few lines of text in the back of a magazine. So this
should make sussing out the weirdos and creeps easier.
It actually just makes it harder.
As a crime fiction writer, I routinely traffic in weirdos and creeps. A lot of interesting stories start at the
place where you realise someone isn’t quite who they claim to be – in fact, that might be at the cold, black
heart of every single crime novel out there. When it came to the third novel in my Roxane Weary mystery
series, I wanted to explore the layers of deceit in modern relationships, which meant I wanted to take a
deep dive into the world of online dating.
I’m happily spoken for and have been since 2011, but before then I dabbled just a little in Craigslist personal
ads. Before I go on about how Craigslist personals are so unbelievably sketchy that the site actually removed
the ability to post them, I’ve made multiple lasting friendships through the “strictly platonic” section. So
the experience wasn’t all bad. I did not meet any romantic soulmates this way though; I only ever went on
one second date with anyone, a girl named Suzanne who showed up to said second date already drunk and
then got mad at me for having seen Avatar without her and never emailed me again. When I started
researching for The Stories You Tell, I quickly discovered that everything in the online dating world had
changed (while, also, nothing had).
TV show ‘Catfish’ sees fake dating profiles
busted (MTV)There are an awful lot of dating apps a person can explore. They include options like Tinder, Bumble,
Hinge, Plenty of Fish, Christian Mingle, Our Time, Match.com, eharmony, Zoosk, OkCupid, Grindr,
Coffee Meets Bagel, plus a couple dozen more you probably haven’t even heard of. Whether you seek a late-
night hookup, a quick breakfast date, or a match based on sun signs, there’s a particular dating app for you.
They each have their own particular demographic and approach, but the basic principle is the same: users
create a profile that shows themselves in, ostensibly, the best possible light, and attempt to connect with
other users who’ve done the same.
More people are finding love this way these days – one in three relationships in the UK start online (and