Allow node_delete or nodeapi delete calls to return a drupal path for redirection

I find that I often want to redirect to a place other than 'front' when deleting a node -- right now, I'm accomplishing this through a comparatively complex system of form_alters and #submit functions. It would be ideal if I could return a drupal path from node_delete or any nodeapi delete call and have that load on function completion. Obviously, I can't use a drupal_goto in either the delete or nodeapi calls, as that has the potential to override other modules' hook calls. I'm using 5.1, but this seems to be the case up through the 6.x release.

Feel free to suggest a better solution if there's something I'm missing!