In the title story, "Theft," a deceptive bus driver and a crooked policeman arrange for bus passengers’ luggage to be stolen during an overnight stop. The stolen luggage creates parallel problems for an American shop girl and an African bus ticket boy, both of whom must find their inner resolve to make it through tough times. In another story, "Wondrous Strange," a woman in a weekly séance club appears to have had her husband stolen away by someone in the spirit world. A quirky cast of characters debates the authenticity of the spirit and searches the area for sacrificial goats.

The plots of these and the other stories ("Pearls to Swine," "Sisters for Shama," and "Setting Up Shop") in Theft are not particularly noteworthy; it’s the finely drawn characters and detailed descriptions of international locales that prove the most memorable. (These are explored in greater detail in the Reading Group Guide at the back of the book.) The author has lived and worked on three continents, which gives her stories an authentic feel about the intrinsically interesting nature of everyday things and everyday people when experienced by foreign cultures.