Julia Hartley Moore is a New Zealand

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

, author and producer who is the founder of the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

-based private investigation firm, Julia Hartley Moore Limited (previously Arbeth & Co Limited). Her firm specialises in

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include non-consensual non-monogamy, cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, se ...

, scam, and child custody cases. She has published several books about her work as a private investigator, including multiple editions of ''Infidelity: Exploding the Myths''.

Personal life

Julia Hartley Moore is a native of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. She is a great-granddaughter of the Yorkshire poet John Hartley. Julia is dyslexic (a fact that was not discovered until she was aged 40) and left school at age 14. She had her first child at age 15 and married her first husband when she found out she was pregnant. When she was 16, Hartley Moore gave birth to twins. She met her second husband when she worked as a secretary with the National Party in her 20s. Hartley Moore has married four times. She is currently married to television producer Steve Butler, who she married in 2009.

Career

In the 1990s when her children were grown, she moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where she worked a job at

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

department store. In this role she helped uncover a staff theft ring. In 1996, Hartley Moore returned to New Zealand and opened her private investigation firm, Julia Hartley Moore Limited (formerly Arbeth & Co Limited). She was the first woman to own a private investigation company in New Zealand. She initially worked fraud cases for an insurance company, but soon began specialising in infidelity cases. She has also worked other types of cases involving scenarios like extortion, missing persons, and employee monitoring (among others). In 2000 she wrote her first book ''Julia Moore, PI,'' which was published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

. In 2004, she authored ''Infidelity: Exploding the Myths'', which was published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

in which she documents her work investigating infidelity cases. Multiple editions of the latter book have since been released, including by Ulysses Press in 2006 and Exisle Publishing in 2011. This was followed up by ''Suddenly Single,'' which was published by

in 2007. Hartley Moore is a regular commentator on television and radio, appearing on TVNZ's

1News 1News is the news service of the New Zealand television network TVNZ. Its flagship programme is the daily evening newscast ''1News at Six''; other programmes include morning news-talk show ''Breakfast'', '' Te Karere'', '' Seven Sharp'', and ...

, TVNZ's current affairs programme Seven Sharp, and has been a panelist on Radio New Zealand's The Panel for over 20 years. In the 1990s she appeared on the television show Private Investigators''.'' She was also a panelist for two series of

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

's chat show ''How's Life?.'' She has also appeared on Australian television's Channel 7. In addition to television, Hartley Moore frequently appears in print and online news media publications such as Stuff Ltd and

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

to talk about aspects of her investigative work. In 2021, Hartley Moore expanded into television production, founding her own production company Blonde Ambition Films Limited. The company’s first project, ''Polk: The Trial of Philip Polkinghorne'', premiered on New Zealand’s Three network in 2025. The documentary investigates the high-profile case of an eye surgeon accused of murdering his wife, exploring the complex legal and emotional dimensions of the trial.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley Moore, Julia Private investigators People from Auckland Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Writers with dyslexia