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, gives a look at history’s darker underside.

As if by magic by Dolores Gordon-Smith

Everybody kills somebody sometime by Robert J. Randisi

The reeve's tale by Margaret Frazer

Blood alone by James R. Benn

India Black by Carol K. Carr

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith — Fans of Alexander McCall Smith, author of several series, including The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, 44 Scotland Street, and Isabel Dalhousie's novels will enjoy this recent interview by Connie Fletcher in BookList Online (12/01/2011).

It's always good to have options and different sources of information for school reports and assignments. For those kids looking for report information on African Tribes, here are some websites for you. Art and Life in Africa: Peoples Resource and Information on African Tribes and African People. These sites are a quick way to find information on tribes, especially when a book is not available.

If you like the humor found in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, may we suggest:

• Murder Grins and Bears It: A Yooper Mystery by Deb Baker
• Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
• Bubbles Unbound by Sarah Strohmeyer
• Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
• The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith