Gambling and murder!

I’ve read all the Warwick and Bell crime stories thus far. It’s interesting in that Frost has chosen a different social dilemma / crime theme for each title. In Aginst the Odds gambling raises its ugly head. There’s also cohesive control, and the selling of children.
This time a new born baby is left in a rotunda, a young protestor disappears, a man is murdered in the CBD, Jane Bell’s daughter has hooked up with a man much older than her who Jane fears might be controlling, and more. There are confluences of influence that surprise us all.
With the gambling, people are being conned by unscrupulous loan sharks, and then finding themselves in thrall to those entities.
DI Steph Warwick has been undergoing therapy and she’s somewhat less aggressive in her relationships with people.
I tossed up between a 3 / 4 star response. In the end I feel that the moving parts came together well, even though Jane has lately been annoying me.
A good read though that held my interest.

A Joffe Books ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. ( )