The Librarian and the Time Machine By Brian Yansky

A fun, fast, fantastical In book 1 after an altercation with a clown, I get lost in the woods and find a strange town. When the librarian of the town dies in front of me, I try on his ring. It fits. I’m declared the new librarian by the mayor and townspeople. I get to live in a houseful of books. But I soon learn the job involves more than just tomes and information. In fact, my first assignment is to discover who murdered my predecessor.
In the third novel of the series, I use an object from the Collection of Curiosities to travel through time back to when I was a teenager and Lola, my best friend, disappeared and Bubba Lee, my mentor, was murdered. I have to face some demons from my past that lead, as often happens when you’re facing demons from the past, right into the present.