DEAD WATER: (The Runaway Series Book 1)

FOR FANS OF THE HOUSEMAID, DEAD CALM, AND THE WHITE LOTUS

The party was perfect. So was the trap.

She goes by Dita Novak.

But that's not her real name.

She's hiding something — something that could destroy her. And the last thing she needs is to get involved in someone else's disaster.

Then the guests board the catamaran.

Bennett Hudson is a powerful federal judge with a flawless Highland Park reputation, a stunning second wife, and secrets dark enough to sink them all. Rachael, his meticulously polished PR executive wife, has planned every detail of his surprise fiftieth birthday celebration — the luxury Caribbean charter, the elite guest list, the glittering facade. What she hasn't planned is what happens when the truth surfaces.

Miles from shore. No coast guard in range. No way off.

When the guests begin turning on each other, Dita tells herself to stay invisible. She has her reasons. But when a child aboard the catamaran shows signs that something is very, very wrong, Dita can't stop herself from getting involved.

She never can.

Then a body turns up. And suddenly everyone aboard is wondering the same thing:

Which one of them did it?

They have no idea they're asking the wrong question.

Told in alternating points of view from a cast of characters whose secrets detonate one by one, DEAD WATER is a compulsive, twist-driven psychological thriller set against the breathtaking backdrop of the British Virgin Islands — where the water is beautiful, the danger is real, and nobody is who they appear to be.

A luxury escape with a body count. A survival story disguised as a party. And a woman at the center of it all with everything to lose — and nothing left to hide behind.

Perfect for fans of: The Housemaid • Gone Girl • Dead Calm • The White Lotus • Big Little Lies • The Girl on the Train

DEAD WATER is Book One of The Runaway Series. Every name she buries is one step closer to him. She'll outrun everyone — except the truth.

Pamela Fagan Hutchins is the kind of thriller writer who does her research the hard way — by actually owning a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands.

Her boat is named Annalise. She's anchored off Tortola. The water is exactly as gorgeous and treacherous as it sounds. And yes, she absolutely sat on that deck thinking about all the ways a luxury Caribbean charter could go catastrophically wrong.

When she's not plotting fictional murders at sea, Pamela splits her time between a lodge in Wyoming (Alaskan malamutes, dog sledding, mountain trails — the full cinematic package), a cabin on Lake Mooselookmeguntic in the Maine wilderness, and an alarming number of countries she's decided to temporarily call home, including Denmark and the south of France. She married a man from the Virgin Islands, which means she has both the local knowledge and the sunburn to prove her Caribbean credentials.

She is, predictably, obsessed with The White Lotus and The Housemaidbut also Longmire and Yellowstone, and considers missing sleep over a great thriller a completely acceptable life choice.

A USA Today bestseller, she writes for readers who feel the same way.

Her newest release Dead Water is Book One of The Runaway Series — because one catastrophic luxury charter was never going to be enough.

📍 Find Pamela, join her newsletter, and follow along at pamelafaganhutchins.com and on her Facebook author page.

What readers say about Pamela Hutchins’ thrillers:

★★★★★ “Unputdownable.”

★★★★★ “Clear your calendar — you won’t be able to stop reading.”

★★★★★ “Hutchins is a master of tension.”

★★★★★ “Fast-paced and spellbinding.”

★★★★★ “Everything shines — plot, characters, and writing.”