Content Warning: Murder and blood.
You know about it, don’t you? That old majestic, deserted house in that one neighborhood – that one that you drive past because you can’t help but be scenic - that you can’t help by stare at. It pulls you in like a whisper calling your name. Who used to live here? Why has it been abandoned? Did something happen here?
Now imagine that house on the sunny bay in Miami, only it’s the beginning of World War II and you’re a recently arrived transplant after having lost your parents in a terrible drowning accident. And your estranged sister is the one currently living in that statuesque house. That is only just the surface of what Carmen Acosta, the eighteen-year-old just arriving from Cuba, has to scratch in The House on Biscayne Bay.
Chanel Cleeton, famous for her binge-worthy romances, has gone gothic in her latest atmospheric novel. With two mysteries set between interwoven timelines, it is a novel that will grip you just by the name of the glamourous manor where the story takes place – Marbrisa. But for a place just as beautiful as Marbrisa, secrets, tragedy, and death hide behind her walls. After all, for all of her beauty, there is an ugly that can only come with it.
“Cleeton has done what only a few in the mystery and thrillers genre could do for me, and that is keep me reading into the night...”
Those secrets rest with Anna Barnes, the woman who was gifted Marbrisa by her wealthy industrialist husband, Robert. Having moved to South Florida after the Great Depression, they set for a place to call home. But what is this feeling that Anna has within her about her new home? And with appearing to have it all, she only knows that one scandal can change everything. And when Carmen moves in just two decades after, can she solve all of Marbrisa’s mysteries and stop history from repeating itself, or is history just a preview of what is doomed to be repeated?
Cleeton has done what only a few in the mystery and thrillers genre could do for me, and that is keep me reading into the night, well past my usual bedtime. With the various players that come into play throughout both timelines - and what I have learned from the various thrillers I’ve read - I really just felt like I couldn’t trust anyone. What Cleeton does best in all of her works is that she knows how to set the mood and paint a picture so vivid that you just can’t help but feel as if you’ve been transported into the story. The mix of historic Miami, the family dynamic between the sisters, and the mystery of the great manor just pulled me in.
Besides the usual aspects that come with thrillers, one of the themes that really plays into the story is the loss of Carmen’s parents, something that I feel that Cleeton nailed perfectly. As someone who has lost a parent, I reflected very well with Carmen and her feelings. The loss of her parents was something that came out of nowhere, and because it was unexpected, she doesn’t know how to feel. A line that stuck out to me and I believe Cleeton captures all of those feelings perfectly was, “Grief is changeable, capricious, and cruel.” A simple sentence, just one that even if simple is just enough to tell the story of what the feeling is.
With her latest novel, Chanel Cleeton has delivered. The story starts off right with a bang and before you know it, it has its hold on you with the feelings that you can’t put the book down. If you’re already a fan, you can rest assured that even if you’re not a fan of thrillers, Cleeton will not let you down, telling this story in a way that only she can. For those seeking out a beach read that will have you craving spooky season, gather up that tote bag, and let The House on Biscayne Bay grip you.
Joseph De La Cruz (He/Him) is an Oakland native and graduate of San Francisco State University with a major in Creative Writing. A lover of Pop music (Britney over Christina, anyday), Disney, pepperoni pizza, and iced coffee, you can find him at the romance section of any bookstore, waiting for his very own meetcute to happen. You can find him on Instagram @princetonboy915 (Yes, it is a reference to that movie!)
