Busted! Stories from New Zealand’s Leading Private Investigator

by Ron McQuilter

Busted looks at the intriguing world of investigating numerous complex cases in New Zealand and how technology has helped and sometimes hampered successful outcomes. All the cases contained in Busted did happen, and the reader will probably remember a number of the cases. It’s an eclectic collection of stories to show you the real world of a private investigator-the warm fuzzy jobs the ugly ones and the downright bizarre.
A lot of cases required good investigative work, some needed luck. Some were sad, some vicious. None were boring!

Genres: Crime, Nonfiction

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Helen Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting read. I loved the way the book was set out and the stories were gripping. I couldn’t put it down and read it in one go!

[Kathy Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Great stories of Ron's experiences as a licensed private Investigator in NZ. CANT WAIT TO READ THE NEXT ONE Busted Again.

[Neeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ron McQuilter chose a good format to present his rather interesting book. Each chapter is a story in itself, so you can either read the book from cover to cover, or just choose something that piques your interest. I highly recommend the chapter on Lee Sheppard's disappearance, a detailed investigation (despite countless barriers) of a case that involved an overseas investigation. This book certainly busted the myth that investigators only deal with cases of infidelity...

[Amyanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and insightful. Heavy on the insurance and workplace criminal pursuits. Truthfully, it has never occurred to me that private investigators are used so frequently in New Zealand outside your standard “my husband/wife is cheating on me” scenario.
It’s unfortunate that the outcome of so many cases leaves the villain victorious -the cheating husband for example in the very last story about blackmail. I feel for their wives.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of quite entertaining stories told from a private investigator's perspective. I have definitely enjoyed his dry sense of humour, but more so, I was left in awe of what some people get up to. NZ is considered to be one of the least corrupt countries, so these stories would probably not raise an eyebrow if they were to happen elsewhere.
The book could have been edited better, though.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an interesting and thrilling view into world of private investigatiors. Ron went of several cases and included PI information and tactics that made it really feel like I was there on the job.
Each cases was different to the next which made this read so great and easy to read.
Also love that it's from a New Zealand PI

[Ingrid Self · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, enjoyable, un-put-downable! Picked it up purely by chance and was hooked for nearly two days. The author writes in an easy absorbing style, he's funny and informative. Looking for sequel.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trying to order both books to be sent to Glasgow what I've read in reviews are excellant

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting insight into some of the cases that Ron has worked.
The number of sidebars felt a bit invasive and excessive at times, but still an interesting read.

[Christine Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. I've also read his second one. Each story is interesting. Recommend

[Norma Bethune · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories but found the very poor …or lack of?… proof reading really irritating! Repetitive texts were nonsensical, there were several missing words [p111: "…She produced bundle of notes …"], word duplications and typos, and phrases appeared in an illogical sequence, etc. [One obvious typo …p101, end of 2nd paragraph: "… which they agreed to do.town" is hard to explain if someone did actually proof the text before printing.]

Highlighted sentences seemed to be chosen at random and were usually located in inappropriate places, often immediately following those sentence/s in the text, so you read those identical sentence/s twice for no apparent reason.

Little thought seems to have been given to placement of text boxes … ie, a text box would sometimes appear halfway through a chapter discussing a vaguely related topic. This distracted from the 'main' storyline and for me didn't flow smoothly.