This is a detective story with a supernatural theme. Miss Lane, having left her previous job as companion to a psychic investigator (who turns out to be a fraud) ends up falling into the job of assisting Jasper Jesperson, a Sherlock Holmsian type of consulting detective. It's all very proper as the household is managed by Mrs Jesperson, Jasper's formidable mother. Clients are not exactly falling over themselves to employ Jesperson and Lane and the rent is due, but they take on a seemingly simple job to discover where a somnambulist goes when he sleepwalks. Things get complicated when this crosses over with a mystery which brings Miss Lane back into contact with her previous partner. Someone is kidnapping psychics and the police don't seem very interested in finding out who. Naturally it's a job for Jesperson and Lane.

I found myself liking the characters. Miss Lane (she hates her name Aphrodite) is intelligent and proactive without ever stepping out of the character of a Victorian lady while Mr Jesperson is hugely talented, though has an enormously high opinion of himself which takes a while to justify. I'm not a natural reader of Victorian detective fiction, though the supernatural elements appealed. To be honest, though it's extremely well written, I found this a little slow at times, especially in the first half. Ms Tuttle tries for the Victorian voice, and succeeds, but that does mean that everything is very polite and steady; slightly stiff, in fact. It does, however, warm up in the second half as the mystery deepens. I would guess, that this is setting up a series for Jesperson and Lane. Recommended for lovers of detective fiction and the Victorian era.

I received this as a review copy via Netgalley

I was looking for a book that wasn't too long, something fun to read that I could enjoy without thinking too much, and I found it in this book. I love the paranormal aspect that was interwoven into the detective genre.
When several mediums go missing, Jesperson and Lane are on the case. Using a combination of deductive reasoning, psychic powers, and on the ground detective work, the two must over come the most powerful medium they have ever encountered. Fun and free of romantic trappings, it was an easy read that entertained and left me wanting more.
I recommend this book if you are looking for something to just experience the love of reading!

Great story! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

This book is fabulous fun from Campbell Award winner and George R. R. Martin collaborator Lisa Tuttle. The Curious Affair of the Somnambulist & the Psychic Thief is well written in both style and language to suit the setting. It feels like a good old fashioned Holmes novel - without Holmes.

Instead we have Miss Lane, a young woman who maintains a sassiness in this Victorian era novel. Full of hijinks and physic phenomena, Miss Lane and her male detective friend, Mr Jesperson, go searching for four missing mediums, where they encounter seances and and physics.

This feels like the beginning of a series, and one I will be watching out for. These characters have such a good vibe between that that makes half the book alone. The story drags you in from the start, and does not let go until the very end.

Great fun, and a great read. 4 out of 5 stars.

Here's the official blurb:

To solve some mysteries, one must embrace the impossible.

Has there ever been a more unlikely pair of consulting detectives than Jesperson and Lane? They certainly make a striking duo: Mr. Jasper Jesperson, with his shock of red hair and seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of all subjects—save common sense—and Miss Lane, whose logical mind is matched only by her fascination with psychic phenomena.

Their talents are rare . . . as are their customers. So when Jesperson and Lane are hired to track the nocturnal wanderings of a sleepwalking London business owner, they’re simply happy to be working again. The case begins as a window into the séances and other supernatural parlor games that are so popular these days, and takes a sinister turn as the intrepid investigators pull back the curtain on the cutthroat rivalries underpinning polite society.

But after several mediums go missing, it’s clear that Jesperson and Lane are in over their heads. For they’ve uncovered a presence beyond their understanding—an evil force that won’t hesitate to kill in order to achieve its nefarious ends.

The Curious Affair of the Somnambulist & the Psychic Thief caught my interest with the cover, the idea of a psychic, and this brief description: "Should you find yourself in need of a discreet investigation into any sort of mystery, crime or puzzling circumstances, think of Jesperson and Lane . . ."

The first page had promise. Miss Lane had been friend and collaborator to a "Miss X" -- a psychic investigator and member of the Society of Psychical Research, but when Miss Lane suspects her friend of her own brand of chicanery, Miss Lane takes abrupt leave of Miss X and returns to London.

In search of a job, Miss Lane happens on an advert for a position as a consulting detective with Mr. Jasper Jefferson. Her previous position involved investigating psychic phenomena, perhaps detective work would not be too much of a transition.

But the book didn't seem to know where to go: humor? quirky? serious? real or fake psychic abilities? The first seemed to offer an offbeat, quirky narrative, but that got lost fairly quickly. Miss X is initially presented as perhaps being vindictive and vengeful, but that, too, disappears. Miss Lane and Mr. Jesperson should have some chemistry, it is certainly implied, but it fails to feel genuine.

The possibility of fleshing out these characters remains, but in this first book in the series, Miss Lane and Mr. Jesperson remain two dimensional. Both characters need a good deal of development to help them evolve into interesting and unique personalities rather than pawns around which a story emerges. The plot is a little muddled and could use some efficient editing.

The Somnambulist & the Psychic Thief has potential for a fun and suspenseful series, and perhaps the next in the series will give a bit more "character" to the characters, a clearer tone, and a more incisive plot.

NetGalley/Random House

Paranormal/Mystery. First published in 2016; May 16, 2017.