author
Thomas Furlong
b. 1844
A Civil War veteran turned celebrated detective, he wrote from firsthand experience about railway crime, police work, and some of the most dramatic cases of his long career. His memoir offers a vivid look at crime fighting in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
1 Audiobook
Fifty Years a Detective: 35 Real Detective Stories
by Thomas Furlong
About the author
Thomas Furlong (1844–1918) was an American detective, police chief, and security specialist whose career began during the Civil War. In Fifty Years a Detective, he says his long working life in detection began on September 14, 1862, when he was detailed from Company G of the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles, better known as the Pennsylvania Bucktails, for special service.
He later became known as the first chief of police of Oil City, Pennsylvania, and as chief of the secret service for major railway systems including the Missouri Pacific Railway. His 1912 book, Fifty Years a Detective: 35 Real Detective Stories, presents his work as a series of true cases and helped preserve the voice of a man who spent decades tracking thieves, swindlers, and other criminals.
Today he is remembered less as a literary stylist than as a firsthand chronicler of American detective work. For listeners interested in true crime, railroads, and the rough practical world of 19th-century law enforcement, his writing has the pull of lived experience.