The Butterfly Thief: adventure, empire, and Australia’s greatest museum heist

by Walter Marsh

The story of the most audacious serial heist in the history of Australia’s museums — and the British gentleman adventurer who pulled it off and got away with it — in a scientific true-crime caper stretching around the globe.

In January 1947, a chance discovery rocked the world of natural over 3,000 rare and precious specimens of butterflies had vanished from Australia’s most prestigious museums in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Alarmingly, the missing insects included many priceless ‘holotypes’ — the first specimen of a given species to be identified, against which all others are compared.

On the other side of the world, New Scotland Yard descended on a country house in Surrey, where they found a trove of over 40,000 butterfly specimens. The culprit was Colin Wyatt, a Cambridge-educated ski champion, mountaineer, wartime camouflager, artist, and amateur naturalist whose high-flying exploits cut a path from the Alps of Europe to a London court room to a final expedition to the jungles of Guatemala.

Drawing on unpublished case files, dossiers, and private archives, The Butterfly Thief pieces together Wyatt’s enigmatic life story and his decades-long impact on the world of natural history. Along the way, award-winning journalist Walter Marsh reveals a deeper history of gentleman explorers, scoundrels, and grave-robbers that begs an uncomfortable but vital What if Western museums were crime scenes all along?

413 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2025

Reviews

[Rachel Heil · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Butterfly Thief is an extraordinary blend of true crime, history, and natural science that reads like a globe trotting adventure novel. Walter Marsh brings the audacious story of Colin Wyatt to life with meticulous research, compelling narrative, and a deep understanding of the world of museums and scientific discovery.

The book excels at capturing the astonishing scope of Wyatt’s heists, from the theft of thousands of irreplaceable butterfly specimens across Australia to his high society escapades in Europe and beyond. Marsh’s storytelling keeps readers on edge while revealing the fascinating characters and historical context behind this extraordinary crime. The blend of meticulous detail, archival research, and narrative flair makes the book both informative and thrilling.

Beyond the heist itself, The Butterfly Thief raises thought provoking questions about the history of Western museums, the ethics of collecting, and the curious intersection of science and crime. Readers interested in true crime, natural history, or adventure will be captivated by this carefully crafted and vividly told tale.

Marsh delivers a book that is as entertaining as it is enlightening, a masterful recounting of one of Australia’s most audacious museum crimes.

[Mark Havenhand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its an interesting story i never heard of - good explanation of holotypes and the importance of correct specimen labelling for scientific research - the museum basically consigning his returned specimens to the trash was quite an eye-opener. The book ranges widely from London, Guatemala, the Himalayas, Australia etc and Walter did a good research job to pull it all together. The last few pages on the ongoing misslabelling cases is also very interesting. So its a great story - but - Walter seems to describe every character in Australia at great great length - so many people pop-in, some reappear later, many dont. Possibly if you are an Australian lepidoperist these names would all be interesting, for me i nearly gave up. The second half of the book picks up and overall its a good read. There is a lot of politics mingled in about the morality of collecting and the treatment of First Nation people

[Michael Burdon]

I wanted to read a book about a museum theft. I wanted to like it. I wanted to finish it. None of these things were possible for me.

The author seems to only be interested in trashing the reputations of Australian museums by repeatedly making his point of view clear that all museums stole everything anyway and how wrong it was. He would then go off on tangents about several historical figures and paint them with the same brush. There are many chapters that could have been left out completely, as they simply were not relevant to the subject matter. I learnt more about this story in a half hour podcast than I did while attempting to read this book.

I'm disappointed. I was hoping for more. It is the first book that I have not been able to finish in five years.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the Mona Lisa theft at the Louvre in 1911 to the Ocean’s Eleven franchise, heist stories have always fascinated audiences. Walter Marsh’s first book, The Butterfly Thief: Adventure, Fraud, Scotland Yard, and Australia’s Greatest Museum Heist will appeal to naturalists and true crime aficionados alike.

Full review coming for Shelf Awareness.