Former undercover officer turns decades of experience into crime novels from Ladysmith home

Lawrence Ricketts’s first book is available at Boundless Books

Former undercover officer turns decades of experience into crime novels from Ladysmith home Published 7:00 am Thursday, July 16, 2026 After spending more than 30 years working undercover against drug traffickers, kidnappers and organized crime, Ladysmith resident Lawrence Ricketts is telling stories once again — this time through fiction. Ricketts, a former police officer whose career included undercover assignments in Toronto, Saanich and Vancouver, has published four novels inspired by people, operations and experiences that shaped his career, with a fifth book already underway.

While the stories are fictional, Ricketts says they’re grounded in reality. “All of the books, all of the people are based on real characters — all people I’ve worked with and people I’ve worked on,” he said. Ricketts’s path into undercover policing began shortly after graduating from RCMP training in 1966.

Because he had listed acting experience from his time in Chilliwack on his resume, he was offered the opportunity to work undercover. At just 21 years old, he admits he was intimidated by the prospect. “I was very worried about getting into a situation with big tough guys,” he said.

“I was just a little guy.” Wanting to better understand the people he would encounter, Ricketts enrolled in a night course on human behavior through Ryerson University. The lessons proved invaluable, teaching him that confidence and communication were often more effective than intimidation.

One of his earliest assignments involved infiltrating a bar frequented by drug dealers. Rather than pretending to know everything, he learned honesty could be his greatest asset. “I figured out the best way when you don’t know is to say you don’t know,” he said.

“Don’t pretend to know and get caught saying something stupid.” Over the years, those lessons carried him through investigations involving narcotics, homicides, gambling and kidnappings. Although the books borrow heavily from his career, Ricketts is careful to protect the identities of people involved.

“I write fiction based on fact,” he said. “If it’s fiction, you can change things around, but a of the techniques are based on what really worked.” Rather than recreating individual criminals, he blends personality traits from multiple people into a single fictional character.

Many of the protagonists, however, are inspired by former undercover colleagues. His debut novel, The Third Law, follows retired Mossad operative Paul Goldman, whose wife and son are killed during a cartel shooting in Miami. Unknown to local police, Goldman has his own undercover background and recruits former intelligence and law enforcement contacts to pursue those responsible.

The story resonated with readers. Before publishing, Ricketts paid to have the manuscript independently reviewed by professional editors and reviewers. “I thought if it got a 2.5 out of five I’d be happy,” he said.

“It came back as a 4.5.” The process is a labour of love. Writing, he says, has become an immersive process.

What starts as a morning at the computer often stretches into the afternoon before he realizes the hours have passed. “I’ll go upstairs at 9:30 in the morning and then think I should make a sandwich,” he said. “Then I realize it’s 3:30.”

Ricketts says one of the biggest challenges is writing emotional scenes truthfully. Having lost colleagues throughout his career, he wants his fictional characters to carry grief the way people do. “If you’ve lost a couple of friends over the years, you don’t ever forget that,” he said.

“Six months later, or 150 pages later, you’re still dealing with that.” Although retirement gave him the opportunity to write his first novel, Ricketts isn’t finished with the characters he’s created. His first book is available locally at Boundless Books in Ladysmith, and with a fifth novel already in progress, he says he’s not quite ready to leave their world behind.