Ten Favorite Private Investigator Blogs in 2013

We like to kick off the each new year with a list of some of our favorite P.I. and P.I.-related blogs. Not claiming these are the top or the best because there’s a lot of informative to entertaining blogs out there, so view this as a sampling of Internet stops we like to make.

Some Favorite Blogs

In no particular order, these blogs (plus a few online magazines) offer information about numerous facets of investigations, from fraud to cold case to catching cheaters.

PIBuzz.com, edited by Tamara Thompson, is a well-known California private investigator, speaker and blogger known for her expertise in Internet data gathering, genealogical and adoption research, witness background development and locating people. Her blog provides such information as research how-to-articles, lists of resources and private investigator research links. Twitter handle: @PIbuzz

Diligentia Group is a boutique investigative firm that provides services to law firms, financial institutions, and decision makers who require comprehensive background and due diligence investigations.  Brian Willingham, CFE and president, has been a private investigator since 2001. He blogs almost daily, most of which fit into one of the following categories: Background Investigations, Due Diligence and Legal Investigation. For a sampling of readers’ favorite posts on his site, check out this post: “The Top Ten: 2013’s Most Popular Posts from Diligentia Group.” Follow @b_willingham on Twitter.

Mike Spencer of Spencer Elrod Services, Inc. has been a private investigator for nearly two decades, in the course of which he worked with legendary Hollywood private eye John Nazarian. Mike writes interesting, relevant and sometimes downright entertaining articles about the profession at his blog Private Eye Confidential. He’s also in the process of publishing a nonfiction book titled Private Eye Confidential, and we can’t wait to buy a copy. Here are some book excerpts from Mike’s blog:

Private Eye Confidential: Introduction

Private Eye Confidential: I Was a Florida Night Cops Reporter

Follow him on Twitter at @SpencerPI

Kevin’s Security Scrapbook – Spy News from New York. Kevin D. Murray is an independent security consultant who specializes in surveillance detection services, and solving security and privacy problems, as well as being the author of Is My Cell Phone Bugged?. He’s a prolific blogger, with the majority of his posts focused on his area of expertise, surveillance, as well as P.I. news and trends, and the occasional fun post (Trending TV: Spies are Hot, Again).  His Twitter handle: @spybusters

 

Fraud Magazine. Not a blog, but a worthy addition on current white-collar crime and fraud examination techniques. Of particular interest to investigators is an entire section devoted to case studies, which includes investigations of immigration officials selling green cards, horse-racing fraud, humanitarian fraud, employee embezzlement, and much more.

PINow.com articles: PINow.com is an advertising site for private investigators that also includes a section on investigative articles. Some are written by professional PIs, others are links to articles about investigations. PINow.com also does annual listings of top P.I.s on Twitter:

PINow.com also does an annual ranking of Top Private Investigator Blogs:

PINow.com’s Twitter handle: @PInow

Pursuit Magazine: This has become one of our favorite stops on the Internet. It’s more than a blog — it’s an online magazine that was revamped last year, and the result is fantastic: A splashy new look, a wider breadth of articles that includes interviews with acclaimed authors such as Maria Konnikova who wrote Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, industry news and more. Follow on Twitter: @PursuitMag

Defrosting Cold Cases is owned by Alice de Sturler, a former human rights lawyer and current cold case investigator. Besides being the official blogger for The American Investigative Society of Cold Cases, her blog Defrosting Cold Cases won first place this year in the American Bar Association Journal’s top 100 blogs, Criminal Justice category. Alice also hosts a Twitter chat (#crimechat) each month on crime and related topics. To check the #crimechat schedule for 2014, click here (it’s in the middle of the page). Her Twitter handle: @Vidocq_CC

As we said at the beginning of this post, there’s other P.I. blogs that offer great content. Here’s a few: Denver Private Investigator Blog, Handcuffed to the Ocean, The Background Investigator, Kusic and Kusic Ltd.

Some Fun Blogs

Invisible Privacy |Online Privacy

How can you resist a blog with this introduction:

JJ Luna’s personal privacy blog. In 1959 he moved to Spain’s Canary Islands to begin a then-illegal educational work that included secret meetings in remote mountain forests. Although pursued by General Franco’s Secret Police, he maintained his privacy via a false identity and was never caught. When the Spanish dictator moderated Spain’s harsh laws in 1970, Luna was free to come in from the cold. However, he remains in the shadows to this day. He is currently an international privacy consultant.

Unfortunately, J.J. Luna’s last post was December 25, 2013, in which he explained why he hadn’t been able to blog in several months (he and his wife are dealing with health issues) so it’s possible he’ll not be blogging regularly in the future.

Bitter Lawyer

Lawyers can be funny.  Really.  This blog offers an irreverent look at the profession of law, which features — quote — “lawyer jokes, news, and celebrity lawyer interviews from a team of prominent (and sometimes anonymous) writers.”  A recent blog was titled “Best Ways to Serve Booze in the Office” — need we say more?

Check Out the Writing PIs’ Other Sites

TheColoradoCriminalDefense.com: Shaun Kaufman’s criminal defense blog.

ShaunKaufmanLaw.com: Shaun’s legal blog on topics ranging from Gmail tips for lawyers to preventing legal disputes with neighbors.

ColleenCollinsBooks.com: Colleen’s book news, with an occasional article on writing or investigations.

Colleen’s Facebook Page: Mostly book news, with some fun stuff thrown in.

Have a great week, Writing PIs