Casey Carson here. I’m a probation officer in Phoenix, Arizona. There’s no such thing as a routine day at the office, which means my personal life also has little structure. Some nights, dispatch calls me at three a.m. The police are out with one of my probationers. There aren’t new charges, but my client—yes we call them clients even if they don’t willingly employ my services—is acting sketchy. Do I detain him or let him go? Not an easy decision when you’re dragged from a deep sleep.

My alarm sounds at 6:30. It’s necessary to get my run in before heading to the office. Any later and the Arizona sun will have cooked the pavement to the point that it burns a hole through the sole of my running shoes.

After downing a Diet Coke, I try to economize my time by conducting a few home visits on my way into the office. My clients aren’t typically early risers and I often spend more than a few minutes banging on doors before they stumble out of bed, wrench the door open and ask me if I’m crazy. “Do you know what time it is?” The perfect time to get up and start looking for a job? Since they’re already in a bad mood, I rarely press the point.

My job is to enforce the conditions of probation imposed by the court. I approve their residence, job, and associates. I check their homes for weapons, drugs, and alcohol. Sometimes, I find things they’re not supposed to have. That can lead to an arrest, something I call police to assist me with.

At the office, I check my email and phone messages. Often times, those lead to crisis I have to solve. A community or family member calls to rat out my client for some volatile or destructive behavior. Sometimes that means another trip to the field. If I’m lucky, a phone call.

Several times a month I have an office day where a big section of my caseload reports to me. Together we evaluate their progress or lack thereof and set goals.

A stop through a drive thru and I’ve got my last Diet Coke of the day and a cheeseburger. No fries. I strive to eat healthy.

On the way back to the office, my phone rings. An officer from the Phoenix Police gang squad. One of my clients is running amuck. Intel shows he’s involved in a shoplifting ring, and they want to accompany me on an unannounced home visit. We agree to meet later that evening.

Back at the office I document my day, then write a probation violation report, and leave it for my supervisor to review.

My sister invited me to dinner, and I get there just as she’s setting lasagna on the table. I pass on the wine since I’ll be working late and enjoy the company of her family. I feel a pang of longing for the domestic bliss she has but can’t imagine giving up the single life and my hectic schedule. Maybe someday.

At the police station, I don a bullet proof vest, pepper spray and handcuffs. My favorite gang officer asks me out, but I hesitate a moment too long and he laughs it off. If I wasn’t already torn between my ex-husband and my hunky neighbor, I might have said yes. But life is complicated enough.

The gang member isn’t there. The evening’s a wash. Still, it’s almost ten when I make it home. I collapse into bed and fall asleep. Until the phone rings at one p.m.

Obey All Laws, A Probation Case Files Mystery Book #1
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: January 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

When Phoenix probation officer Casey Carson goes to work, she expects naked people to answer doors, meth-addicted clients to hit on her, and angry judges to chew her out in court. After a routine home visit with a client, a Diablo gang member, goes horribly wrong, she knows she must watch her back. Even she must admit that a one-eyed, bad-ass, angry gangster and his crew gunning for her is a bit more than she was trained to handle.

Casey has even more reason to fear Diablo when her cousin Hope goes missing, and it looks like their handiwork. With women vanishing at an alarming rate in the area, police treat Hope’s disappearance as a priority. Still, Casey can’t sit on the sidelines, even with her ex-husband leading the investigation. After she receives information that proves her suspicions about Diablo right, the gang will do anything to keep her from sharing it with police, even if that means taking her on a one-way trip to the desert.

Meet the author
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 Casey Carson Mystery Series. Cindy lives in Washington state with her husband and two Cocker Spaniels. Her mystery, Obey All Laws, the first in a 3-book series, released in January of 2024.