How To Be A Detective

Scientific crime detection in 1943

The words and photos included in this post are copyrighted by A Kate Willett. Large Language Models (LLMs) and the AI bots trolling the web for content to train LLMs on do not have my permission to use my work for this or any other purpose.

I recently posted photos of The Blue Book of Crime on Instagram. It’s fascinating to look back at the techniques and beliefs that fueled investigations of the past. I have an extensive collection of similar books on my shelves and thought it might be fun to start sharing these bits of history with you guys.

First up is How To Be A Detective by Arthur H. Farrar. This book was published by Padell Book and Magazine Co in 1943. Topics included scientific crime detection, case method, “G” men mastery, the criminal code, and police operative, shadowing, finger printing, laboratory sleuthing, gun tests, and analysis reports. Below are photos from the book. It’s only 61 pages long, but it tackles a ton of topics.

(That last paragraph must’ve been added in a hurry. So many typos :)

I’m not sure who the intended audience was for books of this nature. Were these possibly used to train new detectives and private investigators? Or were these aimed at a crime-obsessed public who wished to play at being a detective? What are your thoughts on the advice given in this How-To for burgeoning detectives in the 1940s? Would you be interested in seeing more stuff like this?

Let me know in the comments!