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The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton

The House on Biscayne Bay

by Chanel Cleeton

  • Critics' Consensus (17):
  • Readers' Rating (37):
  • Published:
  • Apr 2024, 336 pages
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There are currently 37 reader reviews for The House on Biscayne Bay
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Patricia L. (Seward, AK)

House on Biscayne Bay
The House on Biscayne Bay is a mixture of mystery, murder and historic fiction. Marbrisa, an extremely large and elegant estate is the house on Biscayne Bay in South Florida. Built after WWI on a remote site facing the water with the dual intentions of developing luxury living for the newly rich and elevating the status of builder Robert Barnes and his wife Anna in Florida society. Fast forward to 1941 as nineteen year old Carmen Hayes comes to Marbrisa to join her sister, Carolina and grieve their parents who perished in an accident. She immediately becomes enmeshed in the web of intrigue around unsolved murdermore
Mich-R (CO)

A Suspense
Marbrisa, the house on Biscayne Bay, was the central character with all its secrets, accidents, and deaths after WWI and before WWII. I found the characters were not developed enough to understand their situations and how they responded to events happening at Marbrisa. As a historical fiction there was no depth about the two time periods. The novel was more about power, glamour, affairs, loss of fortunes, trust, and betrayal. I like suspense, but I was disappointed, and I found the story not engaging. I even guessed who was causing troubles in 1941.
BethV.

Good but lacking in substance
The book was well written but the story was predictable and not all that engaging. I thought having Carmen and Carolina come from Cuba was odd. It didn't feel like that aspect of the story was well researched. If some of the main characters are from a different culture, it would be good to highlight aspects of that culture that are relevant to how the characters handled the events in the story. Overall, the book was okay but I prefer more history in my historical fiction.
Barbara B

Familiar plot
This book was a quick, easy read. with just a bit of a twist at the end. Tells the story of 3 women who have lived in the same Florida mansion... As I read I kept thinking "another house book"... Another book with chapters alternating characters and story lines. Felt like I had read this book before..
Robin G. (Tallahassee, FL)

Not compelling
Many of the characters in this novel were not particularly sympathetic, with this reader finding Carmen Acosta the one exception. The motivation for each character's actions were eventually explained but were not accompanied by full character development.

The stories of two murders, occurring in two time periods, were told in alternating chapters. This construction impeded the build up of dramatic tension, and made what would unfold in the next chapter less intriguing.

Though both the title and the Gothic genre suggest the house should be a more imposing feature in these stories, it was treated as a backgroundmore

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