National Year of Reading: 10 Books Set In And Around Chichester To Add To Your Bookshelf
Boost your 2026 reading challenge with 10 fiction books that take inspiration from Chichester and the surrounding area.
Fiction offers an irresistible sense of escapism, but sometimes it's nice to settle down with something a little more familiar.
Chichester and the surrounding district have seen their fair share of historical moments since before the Romans landed here 2000 years ago, and those, along with the magical West Sussex countryside, have inspired a host of writers to weave their own stories in the local landscape.
The result is a varied range of fiction: from crime to historical and science fiction to gothic, which makes great use of the local area. Prepare to uncover buried history in Bosham Church or dodge the TARDIS nearly crashing into Chichester Festival Theatre. Get ready to sink into the generational saga of a manor house nestled in the South Downs or a decaying mansion on the marshy coastline.
There's plenty of choice for light reading on a long summers day or something atmospheric on a dark winters night.
These 10 books set around Chichester dont just offer a great showcase for the area. They're a fascinating alternative view of the streets, lanes and beaches we locals may think we know inside out. You may never look at North Street the same again!
How is Your Year of Reading Going?
These books could help bolster your page count in the National Year of Reading. West Sussex Libraries My Year of Reading challenge is the perfect way to set goals and keep track of your progress in 2026.
It's not too late to start. The challenge helpfully breaks up months by theme, with links to book ideas for adults, teens and children.
Find out more and uncover some tips to keep your reading up at My Year of Reading.
In the meantime, lets grab a cocoa and get stuck into some great examples of authors bringing Chichester to the page.
10 books set in the Chichester District
1. The Dead Beneath Us by Matthew J. Evans
Matthew J. Evanss gritty British police procedural focuses on DCI Beniamin Dinescu of the Chichester Major Crimes Team. The first of the Chichester Crime Mysteries series (up to five at the time of writing) finds Dinescu tackling a murder at a prestigious private school that somehow links to the disappearance of a schoolgirl in the 1980s.
Evans books are an atmospheric dive into the local area, making great use of locations in and around the city. Inter-team tensions have to be overcome to get to the bottom of these crimes—who needs Midsomer when you've got West Sussex?
2. Wideacre by Philippa Gregory
Before The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen, there was the Wildacre trilogy. Gregorys debut novel, Wildacre (1987), kicked off an 18th-century-set series rooted in an estate in the South Downs. Wideacre Hall may seem particularly familiar to locals as the ruins of Cowdray House in Midhurst inspired it.
The novel establishes the strong female perspective that Gregory's works would become synonymous with and allows readers to sink into a saga spanning generations across the three-book sequence.
3. The Headhunters by Peter Lovesey
The late writer Peter Lovesey may be best known for his Sergeant Cribb and Peter Diamond series, but it was the final novel of his short Hen Mallin offshoot, and his 30th novel, that drew readers to the Manhood Peninsula.
An ingenious and tightly wound plot sees the DCI Hen Mallin investigate mysterious deaths connected to a local writers group, only to be interrupted when an apparently unconnected and unidentified body washes up on the beach at Selsey.
4. Doctor Who: The Suns of Caresh by Paul Saint
Did you know the TARDIS has dematerialised in Chichester? Local author Paul Saint, the pseudonym of Paul Beardsley, brought Jon Petwee's Third Doctor to the city in his 2003 BBC Book.
At one point, the Time Lord's timeship, thanks to a bit of negligent piloting, crashes near the Northgate car park, and there are other cameos for St. Richards and Graylingwell in a previous incarnation, too.
5. The Faithful by Juliet West
Set during the 1930s, West's 2017 novel makes atmospheric use of the West Sussex coastline as familial, political and romantic plots unfold in the buildup to World War II.
Taking in Chichester and Bognor Regis and swathes of the areas beaches, it starts in Aldwick in the summer of 1935 with sixteen-year-old Hazel before events spread to London, where the rhetoric of Oswald Mosley is growing, and on to a Spain in the grip of civil war.
6. Rook by Jane Rusbridge
Jane Rusbridge's 2013 novel Rook unfolds a mesmerising historical tale around Bosham on the Chichester Harbour.
When a filmmaker arrives to shoot a documentary about King Cnut and his illegitimate daughter, whose body lies in the church, the past events and old tales he uncovers intertwine with the present-day relationship and secrets hidden between local Ada and her returning cellist daughter Nora.
7. Tidelands by Philippa Gregory
In 2019, Philippa Gregory returned to the Chichester area with a historical tale set in the 1640s during the English Civil War. Chichester was a city hotly contested by the Royalists and parliamentarians, and Tidelands, which started Gregory's Fairmile series, is set a few miles away.
The titular area, comprising marshlands and small coastal villages, is where a fateful meeting sets Alinor's life on course for disaster in a time of superstition and witch-mania.
8. The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse
Set in 1912, local author Kate Mosse's 2014 thriller is rooted in the areas surrounding Chichester. Fishbourne is a major focus, as are the saltwater estuary marshes that convey this Gothic-tinged tale of violence, retribution and justice.
This atmospheric read has all the rising floodwaters, dilapidated houses, and churchyard gatherings, perfect to make you turn the page when the clock strikes twelve.
9. The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff
Sheriff's first novel follows a family's trip down from Dulwich to Bognor for their annual two-week summer holiday.
An immediate sensation on release in 1931, Sheriff was inspired by a holiday in the seaside town. For locals, this is more than an account of a family holiday—it's a fascinating snapshot of life and holidaying in the Chichester district almost 100 years ago.
10. The Cluttering Corpse by Simon Brett
Arundel-based writer Simon Brett's Decluttering Mysteries brings a typically ingenious twist to detective fiction on the streets of Chichester. The first of the so far five-part series, 2022s The Cluttering Corpse, introduces Ellen Curtis, a widow and amateur sleuth who runs a local decluttering business called SpaceWoman in the city. Naturally, when a friend convinces her to clear out a hoarder's flat, she finds more than rubbish.
A cosy and lighthearted mix of domestic drama and crime mystery, those familiar with Bretts Charles Paris and Fethering series will recognise the authors gift for creating likeable and vivid characters.
Good luck tracking some of these tomes down in the area's bookshops. Remember to keep an eye on Chichester Living for more events and ideas for the National Year of Reading.