Customer Reviews

The Investigator's Guidebook: The Ultimate Resource for Background Checks, Asset Searches & People Locates

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As a licensed private investigator, I have the utmost respect for the late Mr. Edmund J. Pankau, CLI, CPP, DABFE and his contributions to the private investigation profession, and was saddened to learn of his recent passing. Mr. Pankau has written some books of value regarding private investigation. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.

This book contains little in the way of actual techniques/procedures and the vast majority of this book's resources are completely outdated. 55 of the book's 178 pages are dedicated to a breakdown of the digits of a social security number. This, like most of the other information in this book, could be easily found via a simple Internet search.

In addition, the forms and checklists are far from comprehensive. As always, I encourage all investigators to make their own customized forms and checklists, rather than rely on those composed by others.

I purchased this book for under $15.00 and was still disappointed. Spend the full $35.00 list price and you'll probably feel much worse.

If you're interested in information regarding asset investigations, I highly recommend (emphasis added) "How To Do Financial Asset Investigations" by Ronald L. Mendell, BS, CLI (ISBN: 039807044X). For information regarding basic (emphasis added) locate and background check information, I highly suggest purchasing "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Private Investigation" by Steven Kerry Brown (ISBN: 0028643992). Brown's work is also a must-have for anyone entering or attempting to enter the private investigation profession. Brown's text is half the price of Pankau's and contains much more content and much more comprehensive, pertinent, and up-to-date information.

As always, check with your local library or bookstore to see if you can read/review this or any title before deciding to make a purchase. This method has effectively allowed me to make the most of my investigative library budget.

I hope you found this review helpful. If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me via email at MichaelBeltz@FALI.com. Respectfully submitted, MB.