Being a good private eye is about staying alert

'Gentlemen... Let me introduce you to Mr Jefferson Hope, the murderer of Enoch Drebber and of Joseph Strangerson." Ever since I read Conan Doyle's Study In Scarlet I have dreamed of uttering those words or similar. And I suspect I'm not alone. Who doesn't want to be the one to solve crimes which elude the forces, to outsmart the local bobby?

From Sherlock Holmes to Scooby-Doo via this year's cinema hit Nancy Drew, books and movies celebrate the private detective but is the job really as glamorous as it seems?

"There are certain myths about the profession; that you get to drive a red flashy sports car, and have a kidney-shaped pool out back and that you spend your time lurking in shadows," says Karen Alexander, who has been a private investigator since last year and runs Ma'at Investigations in Norfolk. "In reality, it's nothing like anything you see on TV." That's not to say the job's not exciting. "It can be immensely satisfying," she says.

Before starting up in business Alexander studied for the Edexel Btec qualification in Advanced Private Investigation Level 3 Diploma (Dip API). "I had done some research and spoken to private investigators and felt that some level of advanced qualification was crucial," she says.

Richard J Newman, president of the Association of British Investigators, fellow of the IPI and member of the The International Professional Security Association and Company of Security Professionals, believes that the certification in the industry isn't regulated enough.

"There was a horrendous case," he explains, "of a man who came out of prison for paedophilia offences then set himself up as an investigator finding lost children. He was subsequently arrested for assault and arson."

Newman and the rest of the industry are waiting for a new licence to come in, subjecting private investigators to licensing laws, but this may not happen until 2009. However, the Private Security Industry Act received Royal Assent in 2001, to make the growing industry accountable for its actions and this saw the birth of the Security Industry Authority which promotes best practice within the field.

Aside from some level of training, says Alexander: "It is very important to have a good command of written and spoken English, as your reports must be presented in a professional manner. You need to be to be conscientious and resourceful, to pay attention to detail and have common sense." Perhaps most important, she says, you need to enjoy your own company, as you will mostly be working alone.

And the highlights are self-explanatory. "I take great enjoyment and satisfaction from a successful result," says Alexander. "Recently, I was able to reunite an adoptive son with his birth family, and found that he had a large number of siblings, neither knew the other existed. They were all delighted with the reunion, and it was very exciting for me to have been a part of that."

But on the flipside: "I was instructed to watch a house for a day to see if somebody came out. They didn't." But, that's not to say that simple observation is really simple. "Actually it's quite difficult," says Alexander, "even though you're 'just sitting there', you need to maintain focus so as not to miss anything if it should happen, which may be when you least expect it, and you have to be ready for anything."

Alexander's and Newman's clients come from all walks of life. Newman has worked on credit card fraud and insurance fraud, but he says the most satisfying is finding beneficiaries to wills.

"I have cried a few times," he says. One of Newman's favourite cases, he says, was the time he reunited a daughter with her family. "The daughter decided to get married to a 'wrong-un' and was cut off by her family. So off she went, never to be seen again. Her grandmother died several years later and left her some money but nobody knew where she was. In the end, I managed to get both daughter and parents to speak. She was in tears, I nearly was. That sort of thing makes it worthwhile.

"Often, it's like working with a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing," she says. "Perhaps my best case was a guy who sent me an email from America with the name of a woman he knew in the 1960s and an English street name. I ended up tracing her in the middle of Australia. As it was she didn't want to speak to him and in those circumstances I am happy to act as a postbox."

How to get on

"You need to be the sort of person who walks into a room and notices what's different," says Richard J Newman, president of the Association of British Investigators.

Seek the right training. Jigsaw Services (www.jigsawservices.co.uk) offers a two-day foundation course for people with no formal training in investigations to get an insight.

The ABI also offers training (www.theabi.org.uk)

Do your homework, advises private investigator Karen Alexander. Contact established and reputable investigators to learn as much as possible about the job before you start.

If you decide to set up on your own, send letters to solicitors and insurance agencies offering your services.

See www.maat-investigations.co.uk and www.the-sia.org.uk