Guest Post & #Giveaway: Diversion (Probation Case Files #3) by Cindy Goyette
- Archaeolibrarian
- 8 hours ago
- 8 min read
Book Details:
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: February 24, 2026
Number of Pages: 320
Series: A Probation Case Files Mystery, Book 3
Cindy Goyette, Author @levelbestbooks @partnersincrimevbt
@cindy.goyette @levelbestbooks @partnersincrimevbt
Phoenix probation officer Casey Carson could use a change of scenery to clear her head and make some major life decisions. When the opportunity arises to take on a side job wrangling juvenile delinquents on a wilderness adventure for a diversion program, she's skeptical. But she wants to support her cousin, a counselor. The extra cash in her pocket sweetens the deal.
Unfortunately, one of Casey's clients-an escaped murderer after one of her charges-threatens to upend her plans. Facing wildfire, flash floods and an angry mountain lion are nothing compared to the murderous intentions in store for one of the kids.
On a crash course with the killer and with her faithful pup Felony by her side, Casey desperately tries to lead the group to safety. She doesn't realize that her two love interests, ex-husband Betz, and hunky ex-neighbor, Marcus, are frantically looking for the group. Casey must utilize every negotiating skill she possesses to not fail, or she'll lose all she holds dear.
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Prologue
The girl held her breath, hoping her pounding heart wouldn’t give her away. She’d squeezed herself under her parent’s four-poster bed, between totes of out-of-season clothes. It had been her favorite place to hide when she was little… but she was almost full grown now. A stupid choice. Wouldn’t it be the first place they looked?
Fear wouldn’t let her chance a move.
The roar in her head made it difficult to hear what was happening in the other room. Still, she listened.
She knew one thing. Her parents were dead. She’d heard their pleas, their screams. Then gunshots.
Silence after that.
She fought back her tears. Swallowed hard. Held her breath.
Now, the killer was rummaging through the house. Looking for something. Looking for her.
Heavy footsteps sounded in the hall and then stopped at the bedroom doorway.
She clamped her hand over her mouth. Tears dripped down her cheeks, gathering at the cleft of her chin before landing soundlessly on the carpeted floor.
Scuffed black boots walked across the room and came to a stop at the foot of the bed. So close, she could reach out and touch them.
She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to face her fate as it unfolded. She was next.
But a cell phone chimed, and the boots turned. The footsteps moved away and toward the door.
She opened her eyes and risked a small breath.
In her hand, she gripped the key her father had passed to her just before he’d told her to hide.
Chapter One
Six months later
I stuffed crackers in my mouth and washed them down with a Diet Coke before leaving my desk and heading for the probation department’s training room. It was early morning, and I felt like I had a killer hangover. Strange, because I’d had nothing to drink in the last few days. I’d thought about calling in sick, but I’d never done that before, and I didn’t want to ruin my perfect record. Even if no one else was keeping track.
Plus, this training was mandatory. I’d put it off until the last class offering, and I needed to get it done.
Most of the seats in the cramped room were already taken. I didn’t have a record of being on time, so I didn’t sweat it.
“Casey,” my coworker Claire called from across the room. “I saved you a seat.”
I dropped into the chair next to her, took another drink, and placed my Big Gulp on the table. “I can’t take another day of this,” I said, under my breath.
“Sorry to hear that,” the trainer said, reaching around me and placing a binder in my lap. “Just for that, you get to go first.”
I cringed. “Sorry. Didn’t know you were standing there.”
“Obviously not.” The trainer walked over to the dry-erase board, picked up a marker, and opened the cap with a flourish. I didn’t know her well, but she was on the fast track to becoming a supervisor. I also didn’t know she hated me until now. “So, Casey, give us your greatest weakness.”
Right now, it was my stomach. The leftover burrito I’d eaten for dinner last night must have been spoiled, but that wasn’t what she meant. I hated this question. The goal was to name something that you could turn into a strength. Nothing came to mind.
Hands shot up around the room. Apparently, not the case for those around me.
“Impatient,” someone yelled.
“Opinionated!”
“Sarcastic!”
“Workaholic!”
The trainer couldn’t write fast enough.
“Okay, that’s plenty,” I said. I loved my job but clearly had to work on my reputation.
The list was moving into a second column when my work cell vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out. Betz, my ex-husband. Well, he was more than that, but I’d pumped the brakes on reconciling while I figured some things out. Still, taking his call was a good excuse to escape the room and the assassination of my character my peers were treating like a game show. “Gotta take this’” I got to my feet and hurried from the room. “It’s a detective.”
“Evasive,” someone added to the list before I silenced them by closing the door. I answered as I walked down the hall. “What’s up?”
“Sorry to interrupt your day,” Betz said. I could picture him rubbing the back of his neck. Didn’t matter what he was calling about, most times when we talked, he rubbed his neck, shook his head, and I’m pretty sure his blood pressure rose. And yet, he wanted us to get back together. If we reconciled, he’d probably stroke out at the young age of thirty-five from the stress I caused him. Still, he loved me.
“No problem,” I said. “You’re saving me from a painful day of training. Please tell me you have something that can get me out of finishing the class.”
“You supervise Martin Phillips?”
“I do.”
“He’s a suspect in a double murder that happened six months ago. Think it’s over drug money. We want to take him into custody, but we don’t want to spook him since he's armed and dangerous. Think you can trick him into showing himself?”
My adrenaline kicked in, stomach problems vanishing. A double murder was nothing to sneeze at. And if it had happened months ago, before he was on probation, there was nothing I could have done to stop it. Now we had to get my client off the street. “I can text him. Tell him I need to do a field visit, and I need him to be home.”
Typically, we didn’t warn our clients we were coming. But sometimes, if we had enough failed attempts, we’d set something up. Anyway, Phillips was fairly new on supervision. He didn’t know the drill. But he knew we had to do regular home visits, and he was due. He’d probably fall for it.
“That should work,” Betz said. “Gear up, and I’ll meet you at the employee entrance in ten.”
I disconnected the call and took the stairs two at a time to my cubicle. I loved playing with cops. Although I never wanted to be one. Too much blood and guts for me.
Writing From the Inside Out
When I first started writing, I tried my hand at women’s fiction. My first book was a rambling family saga—yes, those were once popular, and I am that old. Those books are in the closet where they belong, and I never tried to get most of them published.
Something wasn’t working. I’d heard the phrase “write what you know,” so why was I writing about journalists in Lebanon? I’d never been a reporter, and at the time, I’d never stepped foot outside of North America.
What I knew was my day job. And I only found two books where a probation officer was the main character. But would anyone even find the life of a PO interesting?
Turns out the answer was “no.” Then, finally, “yes.”
I created a character who was like me: A thirty-year-old woman (I was once 30!) working as a probation officer in Phoenix. While I used all the sights, sounds and smells (as unpleasant as they sometimes were) of the profession, similarities with my protagonist Casey Carson pretty much ended there. Casey is much braver than I am, a bit more reckless, and, I must admit, better looking.
But I felt like I tapped into something that I hadn’t seen done before. The rich world of a PO was a goldmine of possibilities for a suspense/mystery novel—a story well that never runs dry. It’s one of the few professions where you are not just enforcing laws and conditions set forth by the court; the officer must hold people accountable and cheer them on at the same time. A PO works with their clients for years sometimes. That means you can congratulate someone for finding a job one minute and arrest them for breaking the conditions of their supervision the next. A PO deals with people from all walks of life. From good people who made poor choices to downright scary psychopaths. At least once a week, there’s a “You can’t make this up” moment.
And, writing from experience, I didn’t have to guess at the jargon, the procedures, the stuff I could never find out from poking around the Internet. And although there will always be something to research, I’d done the bulk of it just by going to work. Having been in the business for so long, I also have countless people I can call on if I have a question.
Are there downsides? Sure. I’m careful not to use any actual cases or clients as material. And having worked in the profession in two different states, I have to be careful not to mix up the two and keep my story real for Phoenix.
So, would anyone want to publish a book where a probation officer was the main character? At first, it seemed like the answer was “no.” When my first agent submitted my manuscript to publishers, I got lots of praise for my voice, my story. But where did the book fit? Was it a police procedural? Not exactly. Was Casey an amateur sleuth? Not really. As luck would have it, just when I was about to give up on the traditional publishing route, my book crossed the desk of an editor who had done a practicum at a probation office years before. She got what I was trying to do and offered me a three-book contract. And reviewers have said how refreshing it is to read a book about a little-known profession. Fellow POs have praised me for getting our story out there. When my uncle read OBEY ALL LAWS, he told me he had no idea what I really did for a living, even though I thought I’d talked about it at family gatherings.
Do I always write what I know? Not really, but there are pieces of my life, my experience in everything I create, and I bet that’s true for every writer regardless of the genre.
Cindy Goyette is a former probation officer who had a front-row seat to the criminal justice system. She kept her sanity by finding humor in most situations. A mix of these things helped her create The Probation Case Files Mystery Series. Book one, OBEY ALL LAWS, won a Public Safety Writer’s Association award, and it has been a finalist for Lefty and Silver Falchion Awards. Book two: EARLY TERMINATION released in 2025. She also authors The Wiggle Butt Manor Mystery series. DIAMOND IN THE RUFF is book one. After spending over twenty years in Arizona, Cindy lives in Washington state with her husband and two Cocker Spaniels.
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Tour hosted by: Partners in Crime Tours
Love this! I think the best books are when the author writes what they know... it shows. :-)