Historical mysteries let the reader be picked up and be transported to different times and places. A good story is a painless way to get into the period, and, if it features a unsolved crime or two, give a look at history’s darker underside.

Sweet poison by David Roberts

Christine Falls: a novel by Benjamin Black

The day the music died: a mystery by Ed Gorman

The hell screen by I.J. Parker

Shadow trade by Alan Furst