The Undercurrent

by Sarah Sawyer

An overwhelmed new mother becomes obsessed with the unsolved disappearance of a young girl from her small Texas hometown—and unearths her own family’s dark secret.

It’s 2011 and Deecie Jeffries’s missing person’s case in Austin, Texas, is still cold. New mom Bee, struggling with postpartum depression, is living in Portland, Maine, having left Austin–and those memories–far behind. Until Leo, her childhood crush and her estranged twin Gus’s best friend, suddenly resurfaces, drawing Bee back into their shared past.

Bee’s predictable life is upended, pushing her to return to her childhood home and piece together a neighborhood’s shattered history. Bee becomes consumed with a need to uncover the truth about Deecie’s disappearance and what happened to the families who lived across the field from one another—Gus, Leo, and their mothers: Mary, a homemaker, whose only escape is the local community theater, and Diana, a serious academic dedicated to her studies.

Told in multiple perspectives with two different timelines, The Undercurrent is a gripping portrait of motherhood, obsession, broken family bonds, and buried secrets.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Contemporary, Suspense

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2025

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a slow burn, character driven mystery that had many different layers and themes giving it tons of depth. It’s a quiet style of suspense, there’s not a ton of action but I still found the narrative to be compelling. I loved the themes of motherhood and the exploration of how far one would go to protect their children, this lead to so many secrets and fractures in both families and I was so curious to see how things would play out. You get two timelines, one in 2011 and one in 1987 and I was equally invested in both. The authors writing was strong and engaging and I’m impressed this was a debut, if you enjoy mysteries with some meat and substance with characters that will linger with you try this!

[Mary Lins · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Undercurrent”, debut novel by Sarah Sawyer, is a steadily burning and twisty mystery revolving around the connections between a missing girl named Deecie, in Austin, Texas in 1987, and a frazzled new mother, Bee, in Portland, Maine in 2011.

Told from various perspectives in each timeline, the reader gradually assembles the information needed to form the whole picture.

When thirteen-year-old Deecie disappears in 1987, Bee and her twin brother, Gus are fifteen. Their childhood friend and neighbor, Leo, is also fifteen; he lives across the street with his UT professor mother, Diana.

Gus and Leo are best friends, both troubled in different ways, they seek each other out for friendship and understanding and push Bee away, ostensibly to protect her.

Bee and Gus’ mother, Mary, and Leo’s mother, Diana both know that the boys were in the field across from their neighborhood the night Deecie disappeared. Each mother makes assumptions that drive them to make irrevocable and secret decisions. They each think they are protecting their own.

Themes or motherhood, family secrets, and sacrifice run throughout. What lengths would a mother go to protect her child?

Thank you to Zibby Books, for an ARC of this debut novel. I am so happy to have discovered your women-led start up and will gleefully follow your endeavors and podcast!

[Shannon (The Book Club Mom) · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE UNDERCURRENT by Sarah Sawyer is a brand new debut that you don’t want to miss. I was immediately pulled in by the overwhelmed new mother storyline, and the dark, moody, and atmospheric writing style held my attention from start to finish. There was a constant buzz of mystery and intrigue throughout that kept me guessing and on my toes. I had no clue how the story would unfold, and was completely shocked by the bone-chilling ending that I did not see coming at all. This was the perfect fall read!

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Dual timelines
- Multiple POVs
- Motherhood and marriage
- Texas and Maine settings
- Slow-burning mystery
- Character-driven novels
- Family drama and secrets
- Missing person cases

4/5 stars for THE UNDERCURRENT! It’s out now!

[Dona's Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

I grabbed the audiobook from Libby because I thought the title and cover were so compelling.

Unfortunately, I didn't care for this. I thought it was convoluted, nor did I like the audiobook narrator. It's also full of very strange ideas about mothering. I don't know, it wasn't my favorite.

[Ruby Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Undercurrent" casts a powerful spell with themes of mothering, loyalty, sacrifice and misery. I was unable to do anything but read from the first page to the last in one sitting. Unnerving, suspenseful, tender and cathartic, it will be hard to find a read good enough to top this. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
#TheUndercurrent
#NetGalley

[Stacy40pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Undercurrent by Sarah Sawyer. Thanks to @zibbybooks for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A new mother gets tangled into a mystery of her past; a neighborhood girl who disappeared when her and her twin brother were children.

A slow and quiet mystery of the past, it was hard to believe this was a debut. There are multiple perspectives and this shows us the misperceptions and secrets that we keep. The story does not come together until the very end but it is satisfying when it does.

“People don’t just disappear. Of course they don’t. They take up so much space in the world. They are pounds of flesh, gallons of blood. Teeth, bones, fingernails. It all has to go somewhere.

The Undercurrent comes out 10/8.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up from 3.5 stars

The Undercurrent is a mystery-thriller debut novel by Sarah Sawyer. It moves back and forth in time between 1987 and 2011 and is told from multiple points of view. A young girl admires two older boys who hang out in a field that is scheduled to be bulldozed into housing. A new mother wrestles with her marriage, her newborn, and her past. Two mothers of teenagers agonize over their children and their own hopes and dreams.

I didn’t have much patience with Bee, the new mother. As described in the novel, she has a great husband, loving and supportive, and she seems to take him for granted and long for something “else” that she can’t even put into words. The most interesting characters to me were the two mothers, Mary and Diana. Their sons are best friends, but they aren’t best friends, and as we hear their thoughts we know how wrong their assumptions are about each other. (The two fathers/husbands are both vital to the story and almost irrelevant.)

Although I sometimes felt a bit lost, and thought the author assumed I understood things that I did not understand, The Undercurrent propelled me forward. I did want to know what was going to happen next. There are some contrived plot points to make sure the reader is suspicious and unsure about various characters and their motivations. I also didn’t love the ending. It felt flat and anticlimactic. However, I will read another book by Sarah Sawyer.

I read an advance reader copy of The Undercurrent from Netgalley.

Really, Leo and Gus aren't gay? How could their families not think they were gay? I was expecting them to be revealed as gay at every point, based on how their relationship is described.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just OK for me. I was looking forward to reading this debut novel touted as being filled with page turning suspense, intrigue and a chilling mystery, however I found it to be more a family drama, with obsessive women, family secrets and a simple mystery. I was surprised at a few revelations, and I did suspect several of the characters through the book, but in the end there was a simple sad explanation for the girl’s disappearance.
Told from multiple points of view and went back and forth between 1987 and 2011/2012. Mary and Diana are both moms who keep secrets to protect their families, and Bee is Mary’s daughter who is also a mom, and has her own secrets. The number of times Bee’s leaking breasts were mentioned got to be tiresome, we get it, she is a mom with a new baby who nurses, geeez!
I paid full price for this book because it sounded like a great story, I suggest checking it out from your library, or wait til it is on the sale rack at your local book store.

[Claire Talbot · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Undercurrent is a slow building literary mystery, but I did not connect with the main characters. Two families live in the same Texas neighborhood, Mom Mary, with her trucker husband, Leroy, and twins Bee and Gus on one side, and across the street we have Diana, aspiring college professor in a failed marriage with one son, Leo. Leo and Gus are best friends, and Bee is always in their orbit. When the boys are in their teens, another neighborhood girl, Deecie, disappears. The novel is told through several viewpoints of Bee, the now grown up and married mother with an infant daughter, her mother, Mary, and Leo's mother, Diana. Secrets are gradually unearthed, and the bonds of motherhood, protection, and loss are all explored. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy.

[Courtney Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this one. After an intriguing prologue, the story took a long while to find its legs again and get moving. Even then, it remained at too slow of a crawl.

Something in particular that didn't work for me was the lingering teenage crush on Leo from Bee. That trope never lands for me, especially when it's well over a decade later and the characters are grown, married, etc and haven't even kept in touch. Couple that with the fact that her current husband by all accounts is a good man, and I felt the same irritation I felt from when I read Broken Country.

Clocking in at just under 300 pages, this felt like a much longer read due to the pacing. I felt like I waited too long to get answers that ended up being a bit lackluster. I never truly connected with the characters, and Bee's reasons for suddenly being determined on solving this old case from her hometown were a bit unclear.

Though it ended up being a mid-read for me, I thought the writing itself was good, especially considering it's a debut.

[Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover is cool…

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-3.75
As the publishers blurb says this book “is a gripping portrait of motherhood, obsession, broken family bonds, and buried secrets”. While I’m not so sold on the obsession piece, there were a lot of motherhood themes and family secrets/misunderstandings abound. There were some good twists in this story, I just wish there were a little more emotion I guess. This could change because I feel like I might be thinking about this one for a while.

[K~Terror · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very slow burn mystery that was focused mainly on the characters. The story flips between 1987 and 2011 with various POVs primarily between the mothers of 2 neighboring families and their children. There is not a lot of action but the writing definitely pulled me in and I felt engaged from start-ish to end. I am looking forward to reading more books from this author.

[Amaris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about a missing girl and about loss of identity as a woman and mother. I DEEPLY enjoyed this! The prose was great, the story exciting (wished for the tension and reveals to be more drawn out but still quite good), and the characters very real.

A good sign when Chris Whitaker says it’s good!

[Christine M in Texas (stamperlady50) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive debut. Emotional and I enjoyed the story and writing. I enjoyed all the Austin references that I am familiar with. The other main state is Maine, which is my happy place.

Thank you Zibby Books for the gifted E-arc. I love being a Zibby Ambassador.

[KaseyG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis: Bee is a new mom living far from her small Texas hometown in Portland, Maine. When someone from her past resurfaces and encourages her to go back home, she reunites with her estranged twin brother and unearths long-buried family secrets.

Thoughts: What a twisty literary thriller! I’m shocked that this is a debut - it is so intricately crafted with dual timelines slowly unraveling the mystery. I don’t want to say too much to avoid spoilers, but I will say that despite this being a slow burn, I was captivated with the story. The characters are richly developed in both timelines, and that made me feel super invested. The twists really got me at the end, too. With overarching themes of motherhood and sacrifice and how far we will go to protect our children, I think this book will really hit home for a lot of people. I also checked out the audio version, and while I preferred the physical format due to the timeline switches, Sara Sheckells did a wonderful job with the narration.

Read this if you like:
🌾 literary thrillers
🌾 dual timelines
🌾 missing persons cases
🌾 family drama
🌾 motherhood

[Bonnie Goldberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Pub Day!! The Undercurrent is a mystery in genre but much more an exploration of family dynamics - weaving back and forth from the late 1980s in Austin Texas and the earlier part of the 21st century in Portland. Bee, her twin brother Gus, and their friend Leo are living a strange adolescent existence on a quiet street in a neighbourhood undergoing change and growth. Their moms are polar opposites - Mary stays at home and Diana goes to work but each woman is grabbling with her own difficult marriage and thwarted ambition. Several things happen all together, dramatically cleaving apart Bee and Gus's family and ultimately estranging the friends and siblings. In 2011, Bee is a new mom struggling through that fever dream of time with a newborn, when Leo abruptly re-enters her life. Rather than saying much more, I would suggest that this is a taut, poetic and slow burn of a novel, that is perfect for lovers of literary suspense and family drama. Thank you to Zibby Books and NetGalley for the e-Arc.

[Jill Kennard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Debut author Sarah Sawyer drew me in with her spot on depiction of Bee as a new mother struggling with the exhaustion and the demands of a newborn. Bee is also haunted by childhood trauma of losing her father and unanswered questions of why her twin brother became so distant & troubled. Can she face what she may find out about the girl that went missing from their neighborhood? How far will someone go to protect the people they love? I was captivated by the characters & mounting questions about what happened during Bee’s childhood. I wanted to read this book in one sitting just to find out! An engrossing mystery! Thanks to Netgalley and Zibby Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Dee P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book, and it was absolutely spectacular. The storytelling is rich with layers, weaving a compelling mystery about a two families who were neighbours, all trying to unravel the truth behind a missing girl. Themes of motherhood, loyalty, and hidden secrets between friends add depth, and the narrative maintains just the right level of ambiguity. It's a slow-burn, character-driven story that keeps you turning the pages, gradually revealing its secrets. The writing is mesmerizing, beautifully crafted, and I found myself completely immersed in it. An unforgettable read!

[Sarah Bluebond · Rating 2 out of 5]

A new mom, living in Maine, returns to her hometown in Texas, trying to solve the mysteries of her childhood.

I was excited for this author’s debut novel released earlier this month. It is told in multiple perspectives and multiple timelines. A slow read for a thriller and it never hooked me. Almost a DNF, but I did like the twist at the end.

[Susanna Fullmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really could not relate to Bee at all. I did not like her. She cheated on her husband, let her baby fall off of the bed, and almost let her baby get burnt in the kitchen. She's a bad partner to Charlie. I don't know much about Charlie but he deserves better than that.

The book overall was very dry. It seemed so long and yet I feel like I know nothing about any of the characters.

[Giulia Dowgiallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ Thank you Zibby Publishing and the author for the free copy! The letter from the author included with my copy provided a lot of context that I think brought the different viewpoints of this book together in a way I wouldn’t have connnected otherwise, which I think would make some viewpoints hard for other readers to get through.
I liked the complexity of the story and how all of the characters’ storylines came together and kept coming back to figure out the full story, I was definitely hooked!

My biggest advice to the author would be to reduce the amount of complex attempts at imagery/metaphors. In my own research into nov writing, I once saw a quote that essentially said “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” when it comes to adding these elements- long metaphors, or including too many just because you have a good idea you want to include, doesn’t mean it will engage the reader and can be distracting and tiring for the reader.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one but I didn't love it. It's told in 2 timelines, 1987 and 2011. The 1987 timeline is told from the perspective of Mary, mother of twins who looks after her family and enjoys acting in the community theater. Mary's son (Gus) is best friends with their neighbor Leo and her daughter (Bee) has a crush on Leo. This timeline is also told from the perspective of Leo's mother, Diana. The 2011 timeline is told from a grown up Bee's POV. Bee is married with a new baby daughter of her own. For most of the book, Bee comes across as someone who has no business being a mother. I felt sorry for her husband. Bee is not very likeable. She complains and seems to have no appreciation of the good things in her life. Also the numerous references to leaking milk got old. Bee kind of redeems herself before the end though. There is a mystery of a girl who goes missing in 1987. There are secrets being kept by the members of both these families. It's a bit depressing overall and takes a long time to find out what happened. I felt so much sorrow could have been avoided if these characters had communicated better. Lots of poor decisions. Much more of a family drama than a mystery. We do get answers but the answers are brief and subtle.

[Amy Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty heavy novel, extremely well-written, about a new mother Bee who is clearly suffering from post partum..trying to reconcile her current existence in a normal family with a man who loves and a beautiful baby with the haunted upbringing she had...a life in a small TX town, with a twin brother (Gus) and best friend (Leo) who kept secrets from her. At the center of the book is the mysterious disappearance of a young girl when Bee was 15, and the sense that her brother and his best friend had something to do with her going missing. A book that keeps its secrets to the end, this was worth reading.

[Christine Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from a Little Free Library giveaway. LFL is a great organization! It's a debut novel. It's good, but there are a few small details that needed to be corrected during editing. That kind of inconsistency can nag at you as you read. For example, do the neighbors live across the street or next door? Most of the characters are hiding a secret or protecting someone who they think has a secret. It's interesting to see the plot lines weave together and to go back to find the foreshadowing as readers begin to understand all that happened in the neighborhood.

[Abbie Pond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't feel the wrap up took the time the first half of the book did, and if it had I think I would have rated it 5 stars. This was a giveaway win for me and I would have happily purchased it, it just really worked for me. The slow build with the intimacy and internal conflict in all of the chapters felt lush and indulgent and correct given the experiences of each of the three women. I loved that none of them ever got the full story, which feels so realistic to how we experience life.

[Hannah Richards Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw, winding, literary, & subtle, with an altogether satisfying ending. It married my favorite topics to read about, motherhood & mystery, in a poignant way.

Told from the perspective of three mothers in two different timelines, the MC, a freshly postpartum Bee, seeks to uncover old secrets from her childhood while navigating her new self.

[Mccall Hardison · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.25 - As literary mysteries go this was a little lacking. I was not very invested in the mystery element of the story and didn’t feel particularly connected to the characters.

In fairness, I think a well-done literary mystery is rare because in my opinion the author needs excellent plotting, character development and writing.

[Cindy(groundedinreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a heartfelt drama about lost and complex women. The title suits the plot beautifully as the underlying mystery slowly reveals itself through as the truth of the past comes to light. 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you @zibbybookspublishing and @librofm for the books!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so wanted to give this one five stars. It is truly beautifully written. Some of the best prose I’ve read in a long time. However, the ending didn’t really land for me. It was a slow build that didn’t really build to much at all.