I am interested in becoming a private investigator. Is it financially lucrative?

Question

I am interested in becoming a private investigator. Is it financially lucrative?

Answer 1

I'll bet these days it can be lucrative. Check out this website:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_money...

Here's some books to take a look at. But check them out from the library first to see if they'll be of help to you before going out to buy them:

"Be Your Own Detective" by Greg Fallis. Here's a review from Library Journal : "Long-time private eye Fallis and criminal lawyer Greenberg promise here "to teach you to do all the things detectives do." They discuss how to do surveillance; how to follow the paper trail of public and private records (even sifting through trash); how to trace missing persons; do interviews; and examine evidence. This instruction, plus numerous anecdotes, provides an entertaining, informative, and interesting look at a little-known occupation. However, as a self-teaching manual for amateurs, this book is only partly successful. In some cases not enough detail is provided, and while the authors do distinguish legal from illegal detective methods, at times they fail to rule out the impractical and unsafe. Several recent books on detective work are available; Ted Gunderson and Roger McGovern's How To Locate Anyone Anywhere Without Leaving Home ( LJ 8/89), for example, thoroughly covers one topic, missing persons. Fallis and Greenberg take on the whole subject of detective methods but with uneven results."

How to Be Your Own Detective: A Step-By-Step, No-Nonsense Guide to Conducting Your Own Investigations (with Disk) by Kevin Sherlock (Ha ha!)