Every so often, Charles Stoker’s “Thicker’n Thieves shows up on EBay for way too much money. There was a time when you could pick up a copy for $8 or $10 in almost any used book store in Los Angeles (always unread, which should tell you something), but the noir craze has pushed the asking price insanely high.

Like other self-published rants (“Billion Dollar Blackjack” and “LAPD’s Rogue Cops, Coverups and the Cookie Jar”) “Thieves” is useless to a conscientious researcher and the price is ridiculously high for what is nothing more than a literary curio.

And no, there isn’t a single word in “Thieves” about the Black Dahlia case.

The latest copy on EBay is listed at $148.88 or Buy It Now for $164.88.

Save your money. If you really want to waste a few hours of your life trying to get through “Thicker’n Thieves,” get it from the library.