Blye, Private Eye

by Nicholas Pileggi

An account of the activities of Irwin Blye, who for twenty years has investigated cases for families, politicians, banks, insurance companies, businessmen, Mafia bosses, and crooked cops

Genres: Nonfiction

185 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1987

About the author

Nicholas Pileggi is best known for writing the book Wiseguy, which he adapted into the movie Goodfellas, and for writing the book and screenplay Casino. The movie versions of both were co-written and directed by Martin Scorsese. Pileggi also wrote the screenplay for the 1996 film City Hall. He began his career as a journalist and had a profound interest in the Mafia. This is where he developed his intuition to author books such as Wiseguy and Casino. He is also the author of the book Blye: Private Eye.

Reviews

[Mickey Bits · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a word: meh.

I really wanted to love this book. Wiseguy and Casino are two of my all-time favorite books—page turners I could not put down. This one, not so much. It was a bit of a slog. The biggest downfall, at least today, is that the methods described here are way out of date. Laws meant to increase privacy and protect people from stalkers as well as the rise of the Internet have rendered many if not most of the methods moot. It's still somewhat interesting, at least from the standpoint of learning how it WAS done—40 years ago. Some of the methods such as social engineering, schmoozing still apply. Pileggi doesn't really delve into the realities that surveillance can be the most boring and often thankless task that it is - yet you have to put in the time and really watch lest your target slip away.

If you're looking for something to clue you in to the methods of current private investigators, look elsewhere. If you're looking to check all the Pileggi titles off your reading list, go ahead an initiate that inter-library loan.

[Fred Grogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Account of a private detective in the pre-internet age. Mostly skip tracing, and all the ins and outs of doing traces, paperwork, interviews, records examinations and dealing with clients.
Very interesting stuff at the time, much of it irrelevant now.

[Ruth R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Blye, Private Eye” gives a realistic glimpse into the life of a true private investigator—far from the glamour of TV detectives. It’s gritty, honest, and shows the everyday grind of real detective work. A solid read for anyone curious about what private investigation is really like.

[Domenico Santarufo · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars