When someone falls prey to a narcissist, a scammer, or grifter, people often ask how it could have happened. How could an otherwise intelligent, capable person let someone else take such advantage? The fact is, those predators have tricks in their books, so to speak, and they know how to exploit others’ weaknesses. One way they do this is through ‘love bombing’ – showering the other person with attention, gifts, and so on, to win that person’s trust. If the ‘love bombing’ is successful, the victim feels special, and is more likely to fall under the predator’s spell (e.g. ‘Wow! He bought me that expensive handbag, he’s taking me to that exclusive restaurant, he must really care for me!’). Being ‘love bombed’ can be dazzling and hard to resist. So, it’s no wonder it can draw an unwary person in. It’s true in real life, and it’s true in crime fiction.

In Lynda La Plante’s Above Suspicion, we are introduced to Anna Travis, who’s recently been promoted to Detective Sergeant (DS). She joins the Murder Squad at Queen’s Park, London, and is soon involved in a difficult murder case. Seventeen-year-old Melissa Stephens has been killed, and her murder closely resembles the deaths of six other women whose bodies have been discovered. The evidence points to popular television star Alan Daniels. Trying to pursue a case against him will be difficult, though. For one thing, he is both famous and beloved. He’s also very rich, with the means to go where he wants, hire the best legal advisors, and so on. And, he may be innocent; there’s just not enough evidence to make an airtight case against him. As part of their investigation, Anna interviews him more than once, and he treats her like royalty. He invites her to an expensive dinner, sends flowers, and makes it clear he’s interested in her. But is it genuine interest or ‘love bombing’? Is he guilty and hoping she’ll help him? Or is something else going on?

Rachel Abbott’s Only the Innocent is the first in her series featuring Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Tom Douglas. In the novel, Douglas and his assistant, Sergeant Becky Robinson, are called to the scene of the murder of wealthy philanthropist Hugo Fletcher. As you can imagine, the police turn their attention very quickly to Fletcher’s wife, Laura. However, she was out of the country at the time of the murder. So, the police have to look elsewhere. As they learn more about Hugo Fletcher, they find out that he was not necessarily who he seemed to be. Part of the story is told from Laura’s point of view, and we can see that the Fletchers’ marriage was not a happy one. Laura is a smart, capable person, so one wonders why she would have stayed with someone like Hugo. But as we look at the story of their marriage, we see that Hugo used his wealth and connections to dazzle her, and ‘love bombing’ to win her trust. It’s an interesting look at how ‘love bombing’ works.

So is Charity Norman’s See You in September. Cassy Howells and her boyfriend Hamish plan a trip to New Zealand to explore and to do some volunteer work before Cassy starts her full-time adult life. The trip is stressful to begin with, and it’s only made worse when Cassy discovers that she’s pregnant. Hamish wants no part of being a father, and he takes off, leaving Cassy alone, pregnant, and afraid. She’s rescued by a group of people who live in an eco-friendly, sustainable commune and they invite her to stay with them until she decides what she’s going to do. A grateful Cassy accepts their offer. When she arrives at the commune, she is greeted warmly and soon ‘love bombed.’ Everyone is helpful and solicitous, and everyone seems delighted that she’s there. The effect is so powerful that, when the group invites Cassy to stay with them permanently, she accepts. We soon learn that this is a cult, led by the enigmatic Justin, whose decisions are law among the members of the group. When Cassy’s parents begin to worry about her, her father tries to visit her but doesn’t make any headway. Meanwhile, Justin begins preparing his group for what he calls the Last Day. Now, the question is whether Cassy will leave the cult before the events of that day.

Stina Jackson’s The Silver Road also shows how that sort of ‘love bombing’ can work. Seventeen-year-old Meja has moved with her mother to the small Swedish town of Glimmersträsk, so Meja’s mother can be with her new lover. Meja’s rather left out of things and at loose ends. She hasn’t really made any friends, but one night, she meets a boy called Carl-Johan Brandt. The two hit it off, and before very long, Meja is invited to meet Carl-Johan’s parents. They welcome her warmly and treat her like one of the family. They listen to her and enthuse about her. Their attention and interest are new to Meja, and very welcome, and it’s not long before she’s spending a lot of time there. In fact, they invite her to live with them, and she accepts. They’re survivalists who do as much as they can without shopping, going into town, and so on. At first this appeals to Meja. But gradually, she begins to suspect that something is ‘off’ about them. Now the question becomes: what is the family hiding? And why are they so determined that Meja will stay with them?

Mark Billingham’s Their Little Secret features Detective Inspector (DI) Tom Thorne. In one plot thread of the novel, Thorne investigates when Phillipa Goodwin commits suicide. Thorne believes there’s more going on than it seems, so he investigates. He learns that the dead woman was the victim of a ruthless con man named Conrad Simpkin. Simpkin won’t be easy to track down, because he’s used other names. But his tactics don’t change. He ‘love bombs’ women he sees as vulnerable, and then swindles them for as much money as he can. Then, there’s a murder, and DNA near the body belongs to a man named Patrick Jennings, which is one of Simpkin’s aliases. Now that he has that information, Thorne can go after Simpkins.

Grifters, con artists, narcissists and other predators have perfected the art of drawing people into their webs. And often, they do it by ‘love bombing.’ So beware the too-frequent gifts, compliments, and so on. You can never be too careful…

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Lynn and Delaney Bramlett, and Leon Russell’s Superstar, made popular by the Carpenters.