This summer we’re diving into origin stories — essays by investigators about discovering their calling. Interviews with professionals about what moved them to become truth seekers. Articles about pioneering detectives and entrepreneurs, early legal codes, and groundbreaking artists who created the crime fiction and films that inspired us to be who we are.
This month is all about beginnings. How things came to be. The process of becoming. Below are some favorites from our archive. As we publish more origin stories this summer, we’ll add to this list.
First, here’s a new video we made of our editor Hal Humphreys’ PI origin story:
Got an origin story to share? Email your story or pitch to the editor: kim [at] storyoardemp [dot] com.
Private Investigator Essays:
From Fiction to Reality: My Path to Becoming a PI-Entrepreneur, by Mark Murnan
Origin Stories: For Love of the Game, by Brian Willingham
On Persistence: A Defense Investigator’s Manifesto, by Oliver Mackson
Reflections and Realizations: How I Became a Private Investigator, by Hal Humphreys (2016)
Chasing Easy: A Private Investigator Finds Inspiration in Fiction, by Steve Morrow
Diving Headfirst into the World of Cloaks and Daggers, by Talia Cohen
Father’s Day Briefing: Hal’s Origin Story, by Hal Humphreys (2020)
Panty Raid, by Mike Spencer
Why Defense Investigation Matters, by Sean Duffy
Investigator’s Notebook: Lessons From A Rookie Year, by Brandon Hovey
An Ex-Cop Turns Defense Investigator, by Michael McKenna
Investigator’s Notebook: I Don’t Always Wear a Trench Coat, by Amy Lynn Burch
How I Became a Private Investigator, by Rachele’ Davis
Interviews & Profiles:
Q&A: Mike Spencer, Bay Area Private Investigator, by Kim Green
Who We Are: Renee Waters, Deadbeat Parent Finder, by Kim Green
Who We Are: Joe Stiles, Tennessee Bail Bondsman, by Claire Gibson
Q&A w/ Lindsay Moran—A Former CIA Operative Reveals Why She Became a Spy, by Kevin Goodman
Q&A w/ Amber Kaset: An Investigator for the Defense, by Kim Green
Q&A: Joe Carrillo—The Orphan Who Finds Lost Kids, by Kim Green
Q&A w/ Nicole Van Toorn—How to Become a Mitigation Specialist, by Kim Green
Q&A w/ Nicole Van Toorn, pt 2—Why to Be a Mitigation Specialist, by Kim Green
Who We Are: Ana Carolina Lanuza, Miami PI, by Claire Gibson
Q&A: Norma Tillman—People Finder & Accidental PI, by Kim Green
Book Reviews / Memoirs:
City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris, by Chapter 16
Book Review & Excerpt: Confessions of a Private Eye, by Scott Fulmer
History:
How Dashiell Hammett Invented The Modern Detective Novel, by Bill DeMain
The Pinkertons and the Rise of the Private Eye, by Kim Green
“Just the Sax, Ma’am”—Crime Jazz, by Bill DeMain
Vidocq: The First Private Investigator?, by Kim Green
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