Laughing Gnome

You may be looking for the sixth series of books in the Lethbridge-Stewart series.

The Laughing Gnome was an object that outwardly resembled a garden gnome, yet had the capability to send souls back through time using astral projection, sometimes into other bodies. (PROSE: Fear of the Web, The Danger Men) It was also able to swop bodies for its victims if the host's body suffered a shock, placing them into the body of the person nearest to them. (PROSE: The Danger Men)

In 2011, the gnome was placed in a graveyard by "a time traveller of some renown". (PROSE: The Danger Men) It sent Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart back in time from 2011 to 1981. (PROSE: Scary Monsters) It later sent Alistair, Anne Travers and Bill Bishop back to 1969, (PROSE: Fear of the Web) this was followed by other trips, including 1999. (PROSE: The Danger Men)