Tales of Thubway Tham

Despite being a criminal, Tham always comes off well: the people whom he relieves of their wallets are often deserving of it, and he has a tendency to take on other, much worse crooks to give them their just desserts.

And, of course, there are scoundrels aplenty in his world: a rival pickpocket who moves in on his turf in "Thubway Tham's Baggage Check;" Shifty Shane, the holdup man, who calls Tham a coward because he doesn't use a gun; and Mr. Clackworthy, a slick grifter from Chicago, who looks down on "dips" as the lowest of thieves.

Call him an early antihero. Tham endears himself to readers because he has a moral compass. He knows his place is in the gutter of the world, but that doesn't mean he can't strive to better himself -- or others.

Included are:

Introduction, by John Gregory Betancourt
Thubway Tham's Inthane Moment
Thubway Tham's Thanksgiving Dinner
Thubway Tham's Understudy
Thubway Tham's Baggage Check
Thubway Tham, Philanthropist
Thubway Tham's Chrithtmath
Thubway Tham's Glorious Fourth
Thubway Tham's Holdup
Thubway Tham Meets Mr. Clackworthy
Thubway Tham's Inthult

All stories originally appeared in Detective Story Magazine.