The Feather Thief

The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson, 308 pages

In 2009, Edwin Rist, a 21-year-old flautist, broke into an ornithological museum in the U.K. and stole almost 300 rare bird specimens. Did he do it for the challenge? To sell to taxidermists and milliners? Nope. He stole them to tie flies and sell to other fly-tiers. Yes, like the ones used for fly fishing, but WAY fancier. Johnson's book delves into all aspects of this crime, including the history of the museum and the birds that were pilfered, the squishy ethics of the elite fly-tying world, the opaque psyche of Rist, and the post-heist hunt for the birds. Through it all, Johnson weaves the seemingly disparate subjects of crime, natural history, fashion, fishing, and classical music performance into a tight, well-told story.