• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2022 March #1
  In in her thrilling debut novel, Bamford draws on her own experience of abandoning city life and a career in journalism for sailing around exotic islands (about which she's written two memoirs). Malaysian naval captain Danial Tengku and his crew respond to a mayday message in a remote corner of the Indian Ocean. Confusion deepens when they find a frantic woman and her injured husband on a vessel that they have no apparent connection to. When pressed, the woman blurts, "I killed them." Bamford immediately jumps backward in time to introduce English newlyweds Virginie and Jake, who have embarked on the adventure of a lifetime: selling everything to buy a yacht in Malaysia so they can sail and live independently. They are drawn to the lure of pristine beaches on faraway paradise island Amarante, and they set off. They delight in Amarante's unspoiled beauty and the camaraderie of other sailors. But when they are joined by an enigmatic couple, unneasy alliances form and suspicions descend as events shift quickly in once captivating, now threatening waters. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.

Emma Bamford is an author and journalist who has worked for The Independent, the Daily Express, the Daily Mirror, Sailing Today, and Boat International. She spent several years sailing among some of the world’s most beautiful islands and wrote two travel memoirs about her experiences, Casting Off and Untie the Lines. A graduate of the University of East Anglia’s Prose Fiction MA, she lives in the United Kingdom. Deep Water is her first novel. Find out more at EmmaBamford.com.