Burnout by Claire MacLeary

This excellent review is the first written by my sister, Camayo. She and I are reviewing books and working on this blog together. Thanks, Cam. See you soon!

Grateful thanks to Contraband for sending us a review copy of this book.

Burnout by Claire MacLeary. March 2018. Contraband. £8.99. 288 pages. Paperback. ISBN 978-1-912235-11-7.
 
This book is described as a crime novel exploring sexual abuse in the era of Weinstein, Westminster and #MeToo. It’s the second novel in the series by Claire MacLeary centring around the unlikely crime fighting duo; Maggie and Wilma. Whilst I had not read the first in the instalment it did not affect my enjoyment of this story at all.
The story follows Maggie and Wilma and their growing Private Detective Agency, particularly a case with a new client who believes her husband is trying to kill her. It also follows the friendship of Maggie and Wilma, the (often strained) relationships with their families and other friends. Maggie and Wilma are very different to each other, and yet equally likeable, and a refreshing change to a mostly masculine led world of crime fighting.  
The duo fight over whether or not to take on the new client, and as the story unravels they discover that abuse needs not be just physical, but emotional or sexual as well; and in fact it’s the long term psychological toll that’s the most damaging.
I very much enjoyed this novel, both the story line covering something that is not often in crime novels and very relevant at the moment and also that the leading characters, the crime-fighting duo where a pair of older ladies. They held their own, tackled the mainstream power and dealt with abuse issues affecting women. I look forward to reading more from this author.
 
- Camayo Hyde