Private investigator

Yes, I think it could be a most interesting occupation sometimes. However, things are rarely as they seem to be in detective stories and dramas on TV and I suspect that the job can be quite boring sometimes when you're just sitting in a car watching and waiting.

In all seriousness, much as I like detective fiction, I doubt I'd be suitable for such an occupation.

No. It would be very hard to decide initially whether it is a genuine case or someone who has good reason for being sectretive/not wanting to be found

A lot of abusers use PIs to tract down or keep tabs on partners/ex partners. A lot of estranged family members do not want to be found. Usually the types of people who would use a PI for the wrong reasons can be charming and convincing.

You could also unwittingly end up putting people at risk from organised criminals who aren't old friends at all...

I would struggle to make a living as I would have to be very convinced before taking a job that I was contributing to good not harm

I hadn't thought of those angles at all..
Maybe I'm not thorough enough to be one, anyway.

I had not thought of things from that angle, notanan2.

I think I was just thinking of the traditional private investigators from years ago.

I would think in the main its quite seedy and boring, not at all like fictional PIs.

Not for me, I will stick with my family tree ?

Yes I would. I've been interested in a particular murder case for the past 6 and a half years----in fact I and many others say it's a MOJ (miscarriage of justice ) and a bad one too. I have made umpteen notes and have got books on this particular prisoner.

It's such an interesting subject and I've learned a lot about law and the Justice system. Police investigations and the many mistakes that can be made that can create a MOJ.
Mark Williams-Thomas has been a part of this case as are many other well-known people.

I would think in the main its quite seedy and boring, not at all like fictional PIs.

Yup the lions share of work would be obtaining photographic evidence of affairs I imagine. I have no burning desire to go around photographing bare hairy bums with trousers around ankles no ta v much

After my father died I used t'internet to find long lost family and friends to inform of his death.
I was amazed how easy it was just like following a paper trail.
Since then I have fancied a job as an armchair computer slueth. ?
A bit of a modern Miss Marple.

Does that count?
MissAdventure

And then after supplying said photographs of bare arses... I would worry too much about what the client would do with said proof: revenge violence or even murder etc

I watch a man on YouTube who investigates (in a totally respectful way) cases of missing people and other unsolved cases.
It is very intriguing, and lots of the people who comment on his channel also investigate these things.

The things you would chose to investigate as a hobbyist wouldnt be the kinda cases with paying clients though would they?

Sometimes the lines blur between hobbyists and private investigators.
If the work together, they can solve cases.

Right but in order to take on the less profitable but interesting cases a PI would have to take on "bread & butter" cases too.

So, professional butt photographer basically.. with the occasional noble cause thrown in..

My DH says I should have been one as I 'don't miss a trick'. Can't think what he means...

Yes, well this is an imaginary job, so I'm not thinking of those cases.
Although I wouldn't mind sneaking around after a sneak. (Or possible sneak)

Oh well yeah I would make a great imaginary PI ?

I would wear a camel coat and sunglasses....for me it would be mainly about the pink panther esque sleuthing outfits

Reminds me when my husband was on C.I.D. He was complaining how boring it was sitting in a pub night after night ( he was on a case) , one of my brothers in law said ‘ what have you got to complain about sitting in a pub and getting paid for it, all I get is a 20 minute coffee break ‘

There's that tv show isnt there where people go on the run and PIs try to catch them

A lot of it is done on computers not through skulking around under streetlights looking all sexy and noir LOL

I've just been reminded of a carry on film where Charles Hawtry is a private detective, with the most ridiculous disguises.

All of my family think I'm an ace detective, but they misunderstand the role. I would not like to work on someone else's behalf to uncover skulduggery, but I do like the detecting/investigative/researching nature of the role.

In my work with adopted people I often needed to trace their birth family members and as a (hobby) genealogist I have become quite adept at creating a narrative from information I uncover about people's ancestors. I often find myself following red herrings, but I'm quite tenacious and rarely give up. I do get a real kick from piecing bits of information together.

In my current job I have become well trained in sniffing out misinformation. Just today I spent ten minutes on t'interweb checking out whether my suspicions about a new client were well founded; minutes well-spent as it turns out. There is an amazing amount of material online, so with a minimum amount of basic information I can put together a reasonable background report quite quickly.

This year I was asked to find someone’s father, all I had was a name and where the parents married. So I started with buying a marriage certificate. This led me to Ireland, difficult. The end result was the person who asked me to find his father now has a sister, uncles, aunts and cousins he didn’t know existed , the father was estranged from his siblings so this meant telling them their brother was dead , this saddened me but i was able to tell them they had a nephew and they told me of their lives through ‘the troubles’ they had witnessed Bloody Sunday.

My grandfather was a private detective in the years before WW1. Most of his work was divorce and sometimes if a woman was to be followed my grandmother would deputise for him as she would be less obvious.

Work died away with the war, as with so much movement and activity, divorce rates plummeted. He was called up in 1917 and sent to Salonika and died in January 1919 of Spanish flu on his way home.