Review: Consulting Cops, a service for crime writers

Today I’m going to be reviewing Consulting Cops. Consulting Cops is a service that connects writers to law enforcement experts to help them gain insights into what their jobs are really like. I used Consulting Cops to better understand how a missing child case is treated in the UK for a novel I worked on and was very impressed with the services. I thought I’d write about my experience in case any other writers are looking for something similar.

Disclosure: CC didn’t ask me to write this and I’m not being compensated in any way. I was honestly just very happy with the service and wanted to share.

What is Consulting Cops?

As mentioned briefly above, Consulting Cops is a consultancy for writers. Set up by ex-DS Lyndon Smith, they’ve built relationships with countless law enforcement professionals (e.g. former detectives, sergeants, constables, etc.) with experience working in forensics, fraud, covert investigations, domestic safeguarding and so much more. If you’re a writing a novel or screenplay and have questions about police procedure, Consulting Cops can probably help.

How I found Consulting Cops:

In a nutshell, it took a lot of googling. I’d been working on a novel where a child goes missing and was going round in circles trying to figure out if what I’d written from the police POV was correct. I tried reading through old articles about real-life missing children and watched a lot of police procedurals on Netflix (tip: if you decide to do this, be warned. It’s a really easy way to trick yourself into thinking you’re doing research. Two seasons of Broadchurch later, was I any closer to finishing my draft? Nope). I also asked friends, my agent and fellow writers for any leads. I wasn’t using Twitter at the time so I would have probably asked on there, as people seem very helpful on it.

Finally, after months of nothing, I stumbled across Consulting Cops. At first, I made use of their excellent free resources, which include but aren’t limited to:

• An incredible Writer’s Aid page that offers free info to help crime writers. There’s loads of stuff on it: A Guide to Common Police Acronyms, Ranks, International Police Websites and so much more.

• Links to festivals, like CrimeCon, and other writing services to assist writers with improving their craft.

Next, I signed up for their newsletter and made use of the free consultation they offer. You can ask one question free of charge as a trial. I submitted mine and was blown away by the response.

Within 24 hours of receiving my query, Lyndon had responded with detailed information about what I was looking for. He also included extra info that I was not aware of but that would prove to be very valuable when it came to editing my book. He truly went above and beyond.

How my paid consultation went:

After receiving such a positive response to my free question, I decided it would be worth paying for a further consultation. I contacted Lyndon again and explained my situation. He suggested two options:

• Five Questions: I could submit five questions to Lyndon. He’d then find a suitable expert and have them get back to me with detailed answers. Cost: £60

• Consultation: The second option was a one hour phone call where I’d be able to ask the expert I’d be matched with anything I wanted for the duration of the session. Cost: £70.

I went away and wrote down a list of all my questions. It ended up being a lot more than five. I also knew that sometimes the best questions are the ones you don’t yet know you need to ask. I figured an hour-long conversation would be most helpful, so I asked Lyndon if he could arrange this.

Again, within 24 hours, Lyndon responded to me and had set me up with an expert, ex-DCI John Foulkes. John and I arranged a time separately to chat on Skype.

My paid consultation with Consulting Cops:

The consult was well-worth the money. My hunch that I didn’t know what I didn’t know was correct and John very kindly pointed out a few red flags he’d caught as he read through the questions I’d submitted to him in advance of our meeting. This was another thing I appreciated — they don’t waste time here. John showed up with an answer to everything I’d asked and took the time to read around the subject matter as well. He was so well prepared.

Was working with Consulting Cops worth it?

100% yes. That £70 saved me hours and hours of googling aimlessly. Payment was easy, done through PayPal. And all my questions were answered in my consultation. Plus, everyone I dealt with was professional, polite and went above and beyond to assist me. You can tell they care about helping writers and aren’t just in it for the money.

A big thanks to both Lyndon and John for your assistance with my novel.

To learn more about Consulting Cops, please visit their website. You can find out more about and sign up for CrimeCon here.