The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson

In 2009, a break-in and theft occurred that rocked the museum and scientific worlds.  The small Tring Museum, a division of the British Museum of Natural History has one of the largest collections of birds in the world.  Many are of rare birds and birds that are now extinct and were gathered by men who were contemporaries of Charles Darwin.  It is a priceless collection as it cannot be replicated and scientists from around the world use the birds in various research experiments on such subjects as pollution, extinction, genetics and others.

But after the museum closed one night, a twenty year old man, broke a window, got into the museum and started frantically stuffing bird corpses into a suitcase.  He stole hundreds of birds in a short time, then climbed back out, got on a train and returned to London where he was a student at the London Royal Academy of Music.  The man was Edwin Rist.  Rist was not only a talented musician who had won a scholarship from the United States to attend the college in London, but one of the world's acknowledged experts in tying flies to catch fish; specifically salmon.

There is an entire subculture devoted to the world of fly tying.  Specifically, those interested in this hobby are obsessed with Victorian fly tying and there are instructions which read like a recipe telling someone which feathers and how to make a specific fly.  The problem, of course, is that Victorian fly fisherman used feathers from birds whose feathers are now rare or impossible to get.  A few exist as attics are raided for female hats which went through a vogue of using large amounts of feathers or auctions of old estates of collectors.  But it is difficult and expensive to replicate the original flies.

Rist was brought up in the United States by parents who home schooled him.  He and his brother were encouraged to follow any interest that caught their fancy and the parents did anything they could to support the interests.  One of Edwin's interest was the flute and he was given music lessons by experts.  When he saw and was entranced by his first flies, his parents took him again to experts in the field and conferences where feathers were traded and sold.

What Edwin stole and later sold was priceless.  When he was captured and jailed, his parents' first thought was hiring experts to represent him.  When Edwin got to court, his legal team called a psychiatrist who explained the Edwin was on the autistic spectrum and could not be held responsible for his acts.  He was set free and has not served time for his actions.

The author learned about this case from a fly fisherman guide as he was fishing in the remote rivers out West.  He became fascinated with the case and was determined to find out what really happened and where the feathers which were never found were.  He spent years interviewing collectors, museum experts, fly tyers and those in the know about the crime.  This book is recommended for readers of true crime and for those interested in science, specifically ornithology.