Review: Diversion: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette

  

Diversion: A Probation Case Files Mystery is the third book in the highly enjoyable series that began with Obey All Laws. While you could start here, it would be best to read that book and the second one, Early Termination, before embarking on this read. There are backstory and character development aspects in this read that build on storylines of the previous books.

 

Pulled from very boring mandatory staff training, Phoenix probation officer Casey Carson teams up with Betz, her ex-husband and cop, to pay a visit to one Martin Phills as the read begins. He is a murder suspect and hasn’t been on parole supervision long. Her plan is to tell him she needs to conduct the usual home visit. Her home is that with his guard down, Betz and his partner, Anita Moody can get the double murder suspect in custody before he knows what hit him.

 

For Casey Carson, it is her last day before she takes a vacation. Not that her time off is really going to be that relaxing or even a vacation. She is going to go on a diversion program to support her sister, Hope, on her new job. (What happened is just one of several reasons to read the earlier books, so I am not telling you why.) the program is aimed to help kids with issues better ways of getting high on life instead of drugs and alcohol. They will be hiking in the mountains around Flagstaff and on their own.

 

Because Martin Phillips is very much armed at the time of custody, as well as his violently resisting arrest, it should be easy to keep him in custody, regardless of how the murder investigation pans out. She can go on vacation secure in the knowledge that everything is handled.

 

It does not take long for everything on the diversion program vacation has gone wrong in every way possible. Casey Carson, Hope, and others face a lack of supplies, an out-of-control wildfire, and, among other issues, a killer who wants what he wants and is stalking one of them order to get it.

 

An interesting and fast-moving read, Diversion: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette is also a mighty good book and well worth your time. This read is published by Level Best Books, as are the earlier installments of the series.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/4u3CGnf 

 

 

 

My digital ARC came by way of the author with no expectation of a review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Review: Early Termination: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette

Released earlier this month by Level Best Books, Early Termination: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette is the very enjoyable sequel to Obey All Laws. As storylines from that book continue here in this read, I recommend for those new to the series to be sure to read that book first.

 

It is late September in Phoenix, Arizona, and Probation Officer Casey Carson has been summoned to a crime scene. Detective Ramsey asked her to come out to a canal where a body has been pulled out. The body is in a very bad shape. It also has one of her business cards in his mouth. That card was inside a plastic bag inside his mouth thus making sure to send a message no matter how long it took for the body to be found and retrieved from the water.

 

The deceased was/is Brian Johnson. He had not checked in with Carson in a few weeks and clearly never will now. She believed he had relapsed and was getting ready to file for an arrest warrant for probation violations. Carson thought he was an okay guy. She has far more questions than answers she can give to Detective Ramsey.

 

On the other hand, she is sure that Tony Romero, her new probation officer who she is training, is not an okay guy. He is clearly a bit of a jerk. But his dad is the manager of the community service unit, So Tony’s short comings have been overlooked by others to this point. Her mission is to make him either good enough to do the job or finding an infraction big enough to get him fired. So far, he isn’t giving her enough to work with either way.

 

If that was not enough stress, Marcus is on his way back to Phoenix and clearly wants way more than platonic friendship. Her ex is still around and he wants them to give it another go as a couple. The biker gang still wants her to suffer and die for reasons made clear in the first book.

 

If all that was not enough, the bodies soon start piling up, and bad goes to worse as she becomes a suspect in the deaths.

 

What follows is a complicated and highly entertaining read. Character development for Carson and other characters continues here, as does plenty of action and mystery. Early Termination: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette is a fun read and well worth your time.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4js1Fv0

 

The author provided a digital ARC of the read with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025 

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – OBEY ALL LAWS BY CINDY GOYETTE

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – OBEY ALL LAWS BY CINDY GOYETTE

Review: Obey All Laws: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette

Casey Carson knew she was in trouble as soon as soon as Javier Ramirez opened the door in Obey All Laws: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette. When she went out to his home to let him know that she was his new probation officer, she had no idea that he was at least six foot four, bulked out thanks to his recent stay in an Arizona Department of Corrections facility, or that was a member of one of the very dangerous Phoenix area gangs. He is most displeased to see her.

 

Among his issues, is that she is not her cousin Hope Carson. Hope passed the case off to Casey and claimed something about she had a conflict of interest. She told Casey next to nothing and now she has an enraged Javier Ramirez on her hands. It isn’t long before he snaps and gets physical with her.

 

In the violent aftermath, and she was very lucky to survive, Hope promises to meet her and tell her some stuff. That never happens as soon she is missing. Casey, along with the help of Phoenix Detective, Barry Betz (Casey’s ex), try to find her and that increases the danger level for both of them.

 

At the same time, Casey also has other clients that she needs to find and work with as they navigate the system, questions about her mother’s recent suicide, and an attractive neighbor just moved in, and lots of other things are happening in Obey All Laws: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette.

 

Billed as the first book of a series by the publisher, Level Best Books, the read is a very good one. A complex main character, as well as an extensive supporting cast with their own backstories and complexities, plenty of action, and a twisting and increasingly violent mystery make this one a fun read. If it had come out last year, it would have made my best of the year list.

 

Obey All Laws: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette is a mighty good read and well worth your time. It is currently scheduled to come out the 9^th, next Tuesday.

The Amazon Associate deal is a bit haywire, again, so go here to pick up your copy.

 

 

My ARC digital reading copy came by way of the publisher, Level Best Books, and NetGalley. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple © 2024