I’m working my way through a stack of books and egalleys, but sometimes life just gets in the way, including Easter dinner and an electricity outage. So today I’m sharing Kevin Tipple’s review of Diversion by Cindy Goyette. Thank you, Kevin!

Diversion: A Probation Case Files Mystery is the third book in the highly enjoyable series that began with Obey All Laws. While 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 in order to get it.d

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.

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

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026