Nothing kills romance like discovering you've been dating a cheat, a felon, or worse.
Now, a new book by author Maria Coder shows readers how to uncover the truth about that special someone, the Daily News reports.
In "InvestiDate: How To Investigate Your Date," the author and former crime reporter provides tips on how to launch an investigation with the help of online resources to verify his or her story, notes Jezebel.
Inspired by the high profile incidents such as Natalee Holloway's disappearance and the Laci Peterson murder, the book points daters to sites like knowx.com to check marital status as well as the national archives to confirm military service.
"I did it to help people avoid the cheaters, the liars and the really dangerous people who are out there," Coder told the Daily News. "There are so many people out there who are just criminals and bad guys -- and bad women. I wanted people to avoid the physical and the financial dangers of dating."
According to her website, Coder also offers face to face classes and online webinars such as "Wolf In A Sheep's Clothing 101" and "Are You Dating An As*".
Background checks on potential suitors thanks to the ubiquity of online dating are nothing new, though. Apps that let users conduct background checks on dates have been on the market for the past few years.
And earlier this year, three major dating sites -- Match.com, eHarmony and Sparks Networks (operator of JDate and ChristianMingle) -- agreed to do background checks on users, according to TIME.