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The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe: The unbelievably true story of John and Anne Darwin, and the fraud of the century
How did the most ordinary of couples pull off one of the most outrageous frauds of modern times? And why did they carry on with the lie for so long?
Drowning in debt and facing almost certain bankruptcy, John Darwin did the unthinkable - he paddled out to sea in his red canoe and disappeared. After a massive search and rescue operation failed to find his body, he was assumed dead, lost in the bleak North Sea.
But everything was far from what it seemed.
Nearly six years later, after John miraculously returned from the dead with a strange tale of 'amnesia' and sporting a suspicious golden tan, the police and the Press were desperate to discover the truth behind his remarkable resurrection.
Journalist David Leigh was despatched to Panama, where he tracked down John's wife, Anne Darwin, who had started a secretive new life with the insurance money claimed from her husband's 'death'. But what lay behind her decision to move to Central America, thousands of miles away from her family and friends? The truth would gradually unravel during an astonishing week of jaw-dropping revelations.
is the definitive behind-the-scenes account of this true story of audacious deception and coercion, offering an unprecedented insight into a mind-boggling story that gripped the nation - and into the inscrutable minds of 'Canoe Man' John and Anne Darwin, his long-suffering partner in crime.
Drowning in debt and facing almost certain bankruptcy, John Darwin did the unthinkable - he paddled out to sea in his red canoe and disappeared. After a massive search and rescue operation failed to find his body, he was assumed dead, lost in the bleak North Sea.
But everything was far from what it seemed.
Nearly six years later, after John miraculously returned from the dead with a strange tale of 'amnesia' and sporting a suspicious golden tan, the police and the Press were desperate to discover the truth behind his remarkable resurrection.
Journalist David Leigh was despatched to Panama, where he tracked down John's wife, Anne Darwin, who had started a secretive new life with the insurance money claimed from her husband's 'death'. But what lay behind her decision to move to Central America, thousands of miles away from her family and friends? The truth would gradually unravel during an astonishing week of jaw-dropping revelations.
is the definitive behind-the-scenes account of this true story of audacious deception and coercion, offering an unprecedented insight into a mind-boggling story that gripped the nation - and into the inscrutable minds of 'Canoe Man' John and Anne Darwin, his long-suffering partner in crime.
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 14, 2022
24 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
September 5, 2022
I had not previously heard of these events, and I'm fascinated by stories of people who fake their own deaths.
This is the story of one of the most arrogant men on the planet, and his ridiculous wife. *sigh* When will people realize that- just because you're married to someone, it doesn't mean you have to follow their stupid instructions!
John Darwin was in serious debt. So, he did what most people would not do, and rather than admit defeat, declare bankruptcy and get help, he decided to fake his own death via canoe accident on an extraordinarily calm day off the east coast of Britain and have his wife, Anne, collect the insurance money.
It's crazy, but the really crazy thing is that it worked !!!!! That is, until Mr. Brainiac and his wife - with a plan to buy hundreds of acres of land in Panama and open a resort - needed special visas which they realized would not withstand his newly adopted fake identity. Rather than abandon this hairbrained resort idea, they doubled down and John "miraculously" showed up back home in Britain to regain his true identity, claiming a convenient case of amnesia (which came and went with alarming regularity during his trial).
Mrs. Brainiac goes along with the whole thing, never telling their grown sons the truth, and telling them their father had died. They only realized it was a lie long after he re-appeared.
What happens between John's "disappearance" and reappearance is pure British comedy gold. Sorry, Anne, but from this side of the law, it's pretty funny.
Author David Leigh befriended Anne Darwin and even got her confession while reporting on this story. He does a good job, but his tabloid experience comes through in his writing and the book is a bit too self-serving. However, he has written an interesting book and, as someone without access to iTV or BritBox (therefore no ability to view the TV series based on this book), I was grateful for it.
The author presents the absurd details of this story with dry humour and it did give me a few laughs. There is a lot of interesting detail to the story. At times it seemed a bit repetitive but it wasn't too distracting.
Recommended for true crime fans.
This is the story of one of the most arrogant men on the planet, and his ridiculous wife. *sigh* When will people realize that- just because you're married to someone, it doesn't mean you have to follow their stupid instructions!
John Darwin was in serious debt. So, he did what most people would not do, and rather than admit defeat, declare bankruptcy and get help, he decided to fake his own death via canoe accident on an extraordinarily calm day off the east coast of Britain and have his wife, Anne, collect the insurance money.
It's crazy, but the really crazy thing is that it worked !!!!! That is, until Mr. Brainiac and his wife - with a plan to buy hundreds of acres of land in Panama and open a resort - needed special visas which they realized would not withstand his newly adopted fake identity. Rather than abandon this hairbrained resort idea, they doubled down and John "miraculously" showed up back home in Britain to regain his true identity, claiming a convenient case of amnesia (which came and went with alarming regularity during his trial).
Mrs. Brainiac goes along with the whole thing, never telling their grown sons the truth, and telling them their father had died. They only realized it was a lie long after he re-appeared.
What happens between John's "disappearance" and reappearance is pure British comedy gold. Sorry, Anne, but from this side of the law, it's pretty funny.
Author David Leigh befriended Anne Darwin and even got her confession while reporting on this story. He does a good job, but his tabloid experience comes through in his writing and the book is a bit too self-serving. However, he has written an interesting book and, as someone without access to iTV or BritBox (therefore no ability to view the TV series based on this book), I was grateful for it.
The author presents the absurd details of this story with dry humour and it did give me a few laughs. There is a lot of interesting detail to the story. At times it seemed a bit repetitive but it wasn't too distracting.
Recommended for true crime fans.
January 3, 2025
The local interest element was too hard to resist being a scandal from my hometown. The tabloid style irritated me though and it was very repetitive!
September 19, 2022
This was an interesting read. My only thought after reading this book is I am not sure whether the portrayal of John in this book was biased or not. Maybe he really is that unlikeable! This is a story about two people who get in too deep, literally, and at least one of them doesn’t know how to put it right.
June 1, 2023
Fascinating!
Read
August 17, 2024(DNF @ 40%) This real life story, of a man who faked his own death, is inherantly hook-y, but David Leigh's retelling of it is soooo drawn out as to rob it of any interest.
It's also a massive self-own. Leigh's portrayal of his own predatory journalistic antics is clearly supposed to be bantz, but it's actually gross and reflects horribly on both himself and tabloid journalism as a whole. Yick.
It's also a massive self-own. Leigh's portrayal of his own predatory journalistic antics is clearly supposed to be bantz, but it's actually gross and reflects horribly on both himself and tabloid journalism as a whole. Yick.
January 16, 2023
Loved the audacity of this couple, rather than declare bankruptcy they faked the husbands death in order to stave of banks and bad loans. The wife, also lied to her sons for nearly 6 years saying their father was dead from a canoeing accident. They gained hundreds and thousands of dollars and set off for Panama for a new life, but even that wasn't enough and that lead to their downfall.
I enjoyed this purely for the entertainment factor but loved how a librarian was able to help police work out time frames of where the missing man was during his missing phase.
I enjoyed this purely for the entertainment factor but loved how a librarian was able to help police work out time frames of where the missing man was during his missing phase.
June 4, 2024
David Leigh must have been unable to believe his luck at what was certainly an incredible scoop, with a nail-biting race through Panama to schmooze the wife of the ‘Canoe Man’ media sensation, followed by days of front-page exclusives and, finally, what must have been a pretty lucrative book deal.
The tale is good, the execution a little quippy and some parts wildly sensationalised, but with a true story so unbelievable to begin with, the whole thing clearly writes itself.
The tale is good, the execution a little quippy and some parts wildly sensationalised, but with a true story so unbelievable to begin with, the whole thing clearly writes itself.
August 7, 2025
I already knew much of the story of the Darwins, but it never fails to shock me! I really like the way this book was written, almost like it was fictional/storytelling so it didn’t feel like a typical non-fiction book. Really enjoyable, I’d recommend it to fans of mysteries or thrillers
January 29, 2025
Really interesting account of this true story, still find it so hard to believe all that happened. Definitely a good read.
May 18, 2025
A very well written and entertaining read.
November 28, 2022
Meh
Not enough of a story for an entire book, I skim read a lot of this and didn’t feel like I missed anything.
Not enough of a story for an entire book, I skim read a lot of this and didn’t feel like I missed anything.
August 4, 2023
I've listened to a podcast episode about this con, but it was so interesting to take a deep dive into the story in this book. Darwin was a real piece of work, and his wife wasn't much better.
I enjoyed the tone of this book, I think they can afford to be a bit lighter and casual as it's not your usual murder-based true crime. It's pretty funny in parts, and the Britishness of the whole thing really comes through.
I wasn't a huge fan of the author selected italics for emphasis - there was something that felt a bit silly about doing that in your own work. But, the story unfolds and becomes more and more unbelievable as it goes on - it was a con both elaborate and shoddy.
It was interesting to get the POV of a journalist and photographer who worked for the tabloids too. Learning about how they share information, how you hold onto an exclusive, and the general behind-the-scenes stuff was fun, and weirdly it keeps the humanity of the story.
I enjoyed the tone of this book, I think they can afford to be a bit lighter and casual as it's not your usual murder-based true crime. It's pretty funny in parts, and the Britishness of the whole thing really comes through.
I wasn't a huge fan of the author selected italics for emphasis - there was something that felt a bit silly about doing that in your own work. But, the story unfolds and becomes more and more unbelievable as it goes on - it was a con both elaborate and shoddy.
It was interesting to get the POV of a journalist and photographer who worked for the tabloids too. Learning about how they share information, how you hold onto an exclusive, and the general behind-the-scenes stuff was fun, and weirdly it keeps the humanity of the story.
May 21, 2025
I first heard about this story on the TV news many years ago. I’d mostly forgotten about it until recently when there was an ITV drama based on the story. This was the book version and even though the story is fascinating, the book, written by a newspaper journalist wasn’t that gripping.
Essentially. John Darwin was facing bankruptcy after getting hugely over reaching on a series of buy to let mortgages. He decided that the only way out was to fake his own death and cash in on some life insurance policies. His wife apparently tried to talk him out of the idea but John. a dominating and overpowering personality went ahead and faked his own death. Amazingly he even went back to live with his wife sometimes having to retreat to the bedsits next door when any friends or family came to visit. He arranged a false passport using a method explained in the book Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth and then the two, Darwin and his wife, planned to buy property in Panama and live a new life. Later, Darwin decided he wanted to return to the UK under his own name by posing as someone who had suffered with amnesia and in fact one day he disposed of his fake passport, walked into a police station and told them ‘I’ve lost my memory!’
Journalist David Leigh tracked down Darwin’s wife in Panama and managed to extract the entire story from her before she returned to the UK to face imprisonment along with John.
The result is interesting but not really a great read as perhaps the author is more used to newspaper stories rather than an entire book. Either way, it kept me interested for quite a few days.
Essentially. John Darwin was facing bankruptcy after getting hugely over reaching on a series of buy to let mortgages. He decided that the only way out was to fake his own death and cash in on some life insurance policies. His wife apparently tried to talk him out of the idea but John. a dominating and overpowering personality went ahead and faked his own death. Amazingly he even went back to live with his wife sometimes having to retreat to the bedsits next door when any friends or family came to visit. He arranged a false passport using a method explained in the book Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth and then the two, Darwin and his wife, planned to buy property in Panama and live a new life. Later, Darwin decided he wanted to return to the UK under his own name by posing as someone who had suffered with amnesia and in fact one day he disposed of his fake passport, walked into a police station and told them ‘I’ve lost my memory!’
Journalist David Leigh tracked down Darwin’s wife in Panama and managed to extract the entire story from her before she returned to the UK to face imprisonment along with John.
The result is interesting but not really a great read as perhaps the author is more used to newspaper stories rather than an entire book. Either way, it kept me interested for quite a few days.
Want to read
July 19, 2022Thank you for Goodreads!
I have not read this book as of yet but am on episode
4 of the ITV program; The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe. BRILLIANT ! I saw it was based on an actual event , looked it up in Wikipedia then The Guardian.
The screen writer is Chris Lang, he also created Unforgotten!
What drew me to the series is that the main actor , Eddie Marso , who played Mr Norell in the fascinating magical series; Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell.
Looking forward to this book and seeing what else David Leigh has to offer!
I have not read this book as of yet but am on episode
4 of the ITV program; The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe. BRILLIANT ! I saw it was based on an actual event , looked it up in Wikipedia then The Guardian.
The screen writer is Chris Lang, he also created Unforgotten!
What drew me to the series is that the main actor , Eddie Marso , who played Mr Norell in the fascinating magical series; Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell.
Looking forward to this book and seeing what else David Leigh has to offer!
August 30, 2022
A completely unbelievable, extraordinary true story of John and Anne Darwin. After I watched the ITV series about the case, I was delighted to see this book for sale!
I absolutely loved this book - it was a page turner despite knowing what happens. Not only was I hooked on the narrative but I also found the world of journalism fascinating.
Well written account with good suspense - it is absolutely mindblowing it is a true story. If it was fiction, it would seem ridiculous! Such a brilliant read if you are as fascinated by the outrageous case as me!
I absolutely loved this book - it was a page turner despite knowing what happens. Not only was I hooked on the narrative but I also found the world of journalism fascinating.
Well written account with good suspense - it is absolutely mindblowing it is a true story. If it was fiction, it would seem ridiculous! Such a brilliant read if you are as fascinated by the outrageous case as me!
June 27, 2023
I wasn't initially sure I would like this. Didn't watch the itv show based on this book although I was aware of the deception when the famous Panama photo waw published but not much detail about the whole fiasco. Ended up feeling sorry for Anne who let herself be ruled by the deluded and seemingly arrogant John. He still seems to have the delusion of being very clever. Not that clever as it turns out. Fascinating read.
June 12, 2024
Good read- a great, exciting, mind-blowing story; well researched and written by someone who was part of it. All those British journalists chasing round Panama is brilliant. And a good job that writers, journalists, TV, newspapers and publishers can benefit from the Proceeds of Crime, when the perpetrators can't.....Don't know if I could have followed the timeline in the book if I hadn't seen the ITV drama first. Monica Dolan was outstanding.
May 12, 2025
Interesting story of John that is faking his death to get out of declaring bankruptcy.
Over the duration of the book, his scheme slowly unravels.. The how, the why and especially when David Leigh finds John's wife Ann in Panama, things slowly fall into place.
John is greedy, delusional and really lacks empathy, especially towards his kids.
Good book, made me really curious about the series.
Over the duration of the book, his scheme slowly unravels.. The how, the why and especially when David Leigh finds John's wife Ann in Panama, things slowly fall into place.
John is greedy, delusional and really lacks empathy, especially towards his kids.
Good book, made me really curious about the series.
June 10, 2022
A completely unbelievable tale of two fraudsters who eventually got what they deserved.
The account is really well written with good suspense that isn't overly drawn out. It seemed like with every page the story was even more incredibly outrageous it couldn't possibly be true, but apparently it is. A real page turner and such a brilliant read.
The account is really well written with good suspense that isn't overly drawn out. It seemed like with every page the story was even more incredibly outrageous it couldn't possibly be true, but apparently it is. A real page turner and such a brilliant read.
June 24, 2022
As a former journalist, I absolutely loved this book. Not only was I hooked on the narrative but I found the insight into the world of journalism fascinating and real. This story, if it was fiction, would seem unbelievable so the fact that it is a true story is quite frankly mind-blowing. David Leigh kept me hooked from start to finish and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
December 7, 2022
I was intrigued to read this book having watched the recent ITV dramatisation. The authors similarly bring to life in an exciting and dramatic way the
audacious and unbelievable crimes of canoe man John Darwin and his wife Anne.
I particularly liked the authors’ ironic italicised commentary throughout as they make cynical observations on the pack of lies they are continually fed.
audacious and unbelievable crimes of canoe man John Darwin and his wife Anne.
I particularly liked the authors’ ironic italicised commentary throughout as they make cynical observations on the pack of lies they are continually fed.
August 8, 2024
Good well-researched book. I had watched the ITV dramatisation a couple of years back which is very loyal to the narrative in the book, so didn’t feel I learned much new information. It did remind me though how unpleasant John Darwin is! Deluded, arrogant and completely lacking in self-reflection and empathy.
August 24, 2025
2.75 stars
Interesting read of an unbelieveable true story. I enjoyed the authors attempt to get Anne to tell her story and get her home from Panama. Did like hearing what others thought of Johns "disappearance". John seemed to enjoy the attention and no doubt this book put him back into the limelight. Felt bad for John and Annes sons who were through years of deceit and lies.
Interesting read of an unbelieveable true story. I enjoyed the authors attempt to get Anne to tell her story and get her home from Panama. Did like hearing what others thought of Johns "disappearance". John seemed to enjoy the attention and no doubt this book put him back into the limelight. Felt bad for John and Annes sons who were through years of deceit and lies.
March 22, 2023
What an interesting story about a man who tried to fake his own death and his wife who implemented the crazy scheme to avoid bankruptcy. And for six years their sons thought he was dead! You couldn’t make it up.
June 6, 2022
Book is nearly exactly the same as the tv series. However; the tv series i enjoyed a lot more, the book was banal and dull compared.
June 6, 2022
An interesting account of the darwin couple' attempt to cheat and defraud told from the perspective of the investigative reporter and the senior police officer.
Read
July 17, 2022Fascinating book
I loved the way the story and events were told
Held me enthralled
Couldnt put the book down
I loved the way the story and events were told
Held me enthralled
Couldnt put the book down
August 28, 2022
Audiobook
October 28, 2022
This was a really well-written, in depth account of this true crime story, to tie in with the recent ITV adaptation. To sum up, if this was fiction, I would be claiming it was too far-fetched!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews