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The Chichester Crime Mysteries #1
The Dead Beneath Us
When a brutal murder strikes a prestigious private school, DCI Dinescu finds himself entangled in a complex investigation, including the mysterious disappearance of a schoolgirl in the 1980s. How are these two cases connected? Confronting his deepest fears, Dinescu must uncover the dark secrets of the past to bring justice and closure to the present.
This is the first police procedural crime novel in the Chichester Crime Mysteries series.
This is the first police procedural crime novel in the Chichester Crime Mysteries series.
326 pages, Paperback
Published July 6, 2023
3 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Matthew J. Evans
8 books3 followersI’m a crime author living near Chichester, West Sussex. My novels are usually set in locations close to my home, an area of Sussex I love and know well. I’ve served many years here as a police officer and now use this experience to help me write crime fiction.
To date, I have published four crime novels. I published my first, Chasing Shadows, in September 2021. Drawing from my firsthand policing experience, I strive to infuse my work with authentic police procedures while maintaining a fast-paced fictional narrative.
My first crime series had a cross-genre supernatural edge. My latest series is purely police procedural crime fiction.
I’m married, have three children (all now adults), and two grandchildren. My background is in electronics and software engineering. However, soon after my son was born with Down syndrome, I made a radical career move and halved my salary—I joined the police in Hampshire, wanting to give something back to society. I have served both in Hampshire and Sussex as a regular police constable and special constable.
In addition to being a Sussex crime author, I’m also a folk musician, playing a mix of Irish, Scottish, and English traditional tunes. I also compose music. I play Irish whistles, the melodeon, the recorder, the ukulele, and the EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument). Therefore, I’m a big fan of folk musicians like Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman, Capercaillie, Kate Rusby, and Solas. Also, I love the American gospel group Casting Crowns.
To date, I have published four crime novels. I published my first, Chasing Shadows, in September 2021. Drawing from my firsthand policing experience, I strive to infuse my work with authentic police procedures while maintaining a fast-paced fictional narrative.
My first crime series had a cross-genre supernatural edge. My latest series is purely police procedural crime fiction.
I’m married, have three children (all now adults), and two grandchildren. My background is in electronics and software engineering. However, soon after my son was born with Down syndrome, I made a radical career move and halved my salary—I joined the police in Hampshire, wanting to give something back to society. I have served both in Hampshire and Sussex as a regular police constable and special constable.
In addition to being a Sussex crime author, I’m also a folk musician, playing a mix of Irish, Scottish, and English traditional tunes. I also compose music. I play Irish whistles, the melodeon, the recorder, the ukulele, and the EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument). Therefore, I’m a big fan of folk musicians like Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman, Capercaillie, Kate Rusby, and Solas. Also, I love the American gospel group Casting Crowns.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 12, 2026
This was my book club’s January book pick as we wanted to celebrate local authors! Crime books are not my usual genre but I have been getting more into thrillers so I thought I would enjoy this one.
Now, don’t get me wrong I did enjoy it and it did have twists that gripped me but I felt there was a lot of police ‘jargon’ that I didnt particualy enjoy and there were a lot of characters with differnt titles and relations that at times I felt confused.
Overall I would recommend and probably would read another book of his as I felt it was really well written and had a good story.
Now, don’t get me wrong I did enjoy it and it did have twists that gripped me but I felt there was a lot of police ‘jargon’ that I didnt particualy enjoy and there were a lot of characters with differnt titles and relations that at times I felt confused.
Overall I would recommend and probably would read another book of his as I felt it was really well written and had a good story.
December 12, 2023
The Dead Beneath Us is a tightly plotted whodunnit in the style of Agatha Christie. And it is a very good whodunnit.
It tells the tale of the search for the murderer of Charles Brady, a reserved teacher at a prestigious public school. The top cop is Benjamin Dinescu and he leads a diverse team of investigators, each with their own issues and foibles.
There is a focus on the relationship between Dinescu and his newly arrived, keen to impress, Detective Sergeant. DS Emily Summers is the new broom that rubs up his settled crew, the wrong way. They need to sort themselves out before they can perform as a team.
There are a lot of partly broken people in this book. There are acknowledgements to PTSD, domestic abuse, disability, blindness and gambling addiction among others. They are not discussed in depth or at length but are used to point out that everyone has history, there are no "perfect" people and to a greater or lesser extent we are all vulnerable to something, but the important thing is not our weakness but our strength of character in overcoming the afflictions that life has dealt. This is a recurring but subtle theme throughout this novel.
The motley crew of investigators uncover a myriad of potential killers and indeed another historic murder. Two whodunnits for the price of one! The headmaster wants to keep media fallout to a minimum, One of the older students is infatuated with a young teacher who responds. The caretaker is also involved in dirty dealings. It's a web of lies and intrigue that goes back for decades.
The beauty of this novel is that it is authentic in that the author is an ex copper with 18years experience. This really tells in the latter stages of the book where the cumulative interrogations escalate to a crescendo. As well as being intense they are also educational. Did you know that, in UK law, an arrested person is not entitled to one phonecall or a solicitor cannot demand a break in questioning?
The spotlight falls on several red herrings and false trails before the final reveal. I'll be honest I didn't spot the killer and I'm normally pretty good at that. In hindsight the clues were all there. And at the end there's a little twist on top of the twist.
The writing style is spare and workmanlike, no verbosity or purple process. The plot is all.
This is such a cleverly plotted murder, police procedural. Well worth a read. This novel is the first in a series. I for one will be buying the rest in the series.
from grumpyoldbooks.blogspot.com
It tells the tale of the search for the murderer of Charles Brady, a reserved teacher at a prestigious public school. The top cop is Benjamin Dinescu and he leads a diverse team of investigators, each with their own issues and foibles.
There is a focus on the relationship between Dinescu and his newly arrived, keen to impress, Detective Sergeant. DS Emily Summers is the new broom that rubs up his settled crew, the wrong way. They need to sort themselves out before they can perform as a team.
There are a lot of partly broken people in this book. There are acknowledgements to PTSD, domestic abuse, disability, blindness and gambling addiction among others. They are not discussed in depth or at length but are used to point out that everyone has history, there are no "perfect" people and to a greater or lesser extent we are all vulnerable to something, but the important thing is not our weakness but our strength of character in overcoming the afflictions that life has dealt. This is a recurring but subtle theme throughout this novel.
The motley crew of investigators uncover a myriad of potential killers and indeed another historic murder. Two whodunnits for the price of one! The headmaster wants to keep media fallout to a minimum, One of the older students is infatuated with a young teacher who responds. The caretaker is also involved in dirty dealings. It's a web of lies and intrigue that goes back for decades.
The beauty of this novel is that it is authentic in that the author is an ex copper with 18years experience. This really tells in the latter stages of the book where the cumulative interrogations escalate to a crescendo. As well as being intense they are also educational. Did you know that, in UK law, an arrested person is not entitled to one phonecall or a solicitor cannot demand a break in questioning?
The spotlight falls on several red herrings and false trails before the final reveal. I'll be honest I didn't spot the killer and I'm normally pretty good at that. In hindsight the clues were all there. And at the end there's a little twist on top of the twist.
The writing style is spare and workmanlike, no verbosity or purple process. The plot is all.
This is such a cleverly plotted murder, police procedural. Well worth a read. This novel is the first in a series. I for one will be buying the rest in the series.
from grumpyoldbooks.blogspot.com
November 18, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this opening book in Matt Evans’ Chichester mysteries.
The plot whizzed along, with suspense building nicely. Plenty of suspects and clues for the reader to get stuck into. And — unlike another reviewer — I really enjoyed the insights into the characters. At the same time, the details of police procedure felt authentic, which is not surprising given Matt’s professional background.
A great start to the series. I’m looking forward to reading more.
The plot whizzed along, with suspense building nicely. Plenty of suspects and clues for the reader to get stuck into. And — unlike another reviewer — I really enjoyed the insights into the characters. At the same time, the details of police procedure felt authentic, which is not surprising given Matt’s professional background.
A great start to the series. I’m looking forward to reading more.
January 21, 2026
3.5 ⭐ This was my book club’s January pick as we wanted to read a book from a local author. I must admit it was quite cool to hear my hometown mentioned a few times, and I also know my way around Chichester too so it was incredibly fun to read. I’m also thanking my college criminology course as I understood most of the police abbreviations but some did throw me off and I had to google them. So I can see why it was tricky for some to understand.
This book follows our main character DCI Beniamin Dinescu, along with his team of officers after a brutal murder strikes a prestigious private school. Dinescu finds himself entangled in a complex investigation, including the mysterious disappearance of a schoolgirl in the 1980s. How are these two cases connected?
I will say this was a gripping story and with the added element of it being local I was invested, but I had a difficult time with all of the different POVs and it being a different character every chapter, I do understand Dinescu can’t be everywhere at once and it is also down to his team to uncover the mystery, but it did get quite confusing. There was also so many characters it was hard to remember who they were at times and by the end I was confused as to who some people were so I had to go back a bit to figure it out. But overall this was a fun book and I’ll definitely be reading the next few books in the series.
This book follows our main character DCI Beniamin Dinescu, along with his team of officers after a brutal murder strikes a prestigious private school. Dinescu finds himself entangled in a complex investigation, including the mysterious disappearance of a schoolgirl in the 1980s. How are these two cases connected?
I will say this was a gripping story and with the added element of it being local I was invested, but I had a difficult time with all of the different POVs and it being a different character every chapter, I do understand Dinescu can’t be everywhere at once and it is also down to his team to uncover the mystery, but it did get quite confusing. There was also so many characters it was hard to remember who they were at times and by the end I was confused as to who some people were so I had to go back a bit to figure it out. But overall this was a fun book and I’ll definitely be reading the next few books in the series.
December 23, 2025
Format: audiobook
Narrator: Aubrey Parsons
A murder at a private school and the disappearance of a schoolgirl in the 1980’s how are these two cases connected?
DCI Dinescu is an interesting character he’ll have to overcome some trauma based fears to lead his team as well as trying to integrate a new eager to prove herself DS, things are not going as smoothly as he’d hoped.
A good plot with realistically flawed characters which makes them easily relatable to the reader.
Narration was good.
Narrator: Aubrey Parsons
A murder at a private school and the disappearance of a schoolgirl in the 1980’s how are these two cases connected?
DCI Dinescu is an interesting character he’ll have to overcome some trauma based fears to lead his team as well as trying to integrate a new eager to prove herself DS, things are not going as smoothly as he’d hoped.
A good plot with realistically flawed characters which makes them easily relatable to the reader.
Narration was good.
March 23, 2025
Living near Chichester, I especially enjoyed the setting but as a crime novel this was far better than I had anticipated. Well-written, well-plotted and really engaging characters - will certainly be looking out or books by Matthew Evans.
February 13, 2025
Thoroughly enjoyed this!
June 5, 2025
Great listen on Audible
January 13, 2026
holy f***in airball
May 31, 2025
Matthew J. Evans has a compelling mystery in The Dead Beneath Us, the first of the Chichester Crime series, weaving a story rich in suspense and intriguing characters. Aubrey Parsons' narration completes the experience, bringing each character to life with his distinct voices and excellent pacing. A must-listen for fans of crime fiction. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews