The House on Biscayne Bay

Atmosphere is everything in Cleeton’s (The Cuban Heiress) latest lavish historical fiction mystery. Two parallel narratives intertwine across decades. Following the Great War, Anna Barnes and her wealthy husband, Robert, move into the newly built, palatial mansion Marbrisa and try to settle into Miami society. Then, a mysterious death during their housewarming party upends their carefully planned life. Decades later, on the eve of World War II, Carmen Acosta, her sister Carolina, and her brother-in-law Asher Wyatt seek a new home at Marbrisa, where ghosts seem to lurk around every corner. Cleeton excels at describing the ostentatious estate, making the house a character in its own right. History seems to repeat itself in the lives of Anna, Carolina, and Carmen, although the elegance of Cleeton’s puzzle is marred by the novel’s slow pace and lack of palpable tension. Additionally, the final reveal is so out of the blue that it confuses rather than satisfies. Narrators Caroline Hewitt as Anna and Frankie Corzo as Carmen bring emotion and depth to the characters, but some listeners may struggle to distinguish between the two.