For 36 years, the disappearance of Lynette Dawson, a Northern Beaches nurse and housewife, was a mystery.

Her husband, Chris Dawson, a high school teacher was a suspect, after he moved a 16-year old student into his wife’s bed, but he was a popular rugby player, and the police failed to investigate. It was a cold case.

Then, Hedley Thomas, a star investigative reporter, sensing that something was amiss began asking questions, of Lyn’s friends, neighbours, and the police. He turned his reporting into a podcast The Teacher’s Pet, and the police were prodded into reopened the investigation, and in 2022, Chris Dawson was convicted of murder.

The Teacher’s Pet has been downloaded more than 20 million times around the world.

Now Hedley has written a book by the same name, with fascinating new details, from the crime to the courtroom drama.

“A monumental work,” says Trent Dalton “harrowing, twisting, spine-tingling.”

Bookoccino will host Hedley’s first stop on his national book tour:

• Wednesday 11 October
• Glen Street Theatre
• Hedley will be in conversation with Bookoccino’s Raymond Bonner, long-time friend and fellow investigative journalist.

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