Chris Dawson: Joanne Curtis tells her life with him in book about missing mum Lynette Dawson

A new book could reveal never before heard details about the man charged with the murder of his wife Lynette Dawson. Due out in February, it features interviews with his schoolgirl lover who became his second wife.

Chris Dawson, 70, author Rebecca Hazel and Joanne Curtis, who was having an affair with Dawson at the time his wife went missing.

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A new book based on “meticulous” interviews with the schoolgirl lover of Chris Dawson, the man charged with the murder of his wife Lynette, is due out in February.

In The Schoolgirl, Her Teacher and His Wife Joanne Curtis, a former Cromer High pupil who was having an affair with her teacher Dawson at the time his wife went missing in January, 1982, tells her story.

Joanne Curtis pictured with Chris and Lynette Dawson’s two girls Sherryn and Shanelle.

Two days after Mrs Dawson, 33, disappeared, Ms Curtis, then 16, moved into the family home.

She went on to marry Mr Dawson and they had a daughter together.

In the publicity blurb it says the story of the cold case is “brilliantly reconstructed from court transcripts and interviews with key players, including Lynette’s friends and family, policeman Damian Loone, who has been investigating her disappearance for nearly 20 years, and crucially, Joanne Curtis herself”.

Rebecca Hazel has written a book after striking up a friendship with Joanne Curtis. Picture:. Hollie Adams

Author Rebecca Hazel, a lawyer, who lives on the northern beaches, said the book came about after she struck up a friendship with Joanne Curtis in 2007.

She says one day, while chatting over coffee, Ms Curtis told her about her past.

Ms Hazel spent many days with Ms Curtis, who also lives on the beaches near her daughter and grandchildren. Ms Curtis knew Ms Hazel wanted to write a book.

Chris Dawson is escorted by NSW Police detectives as he arrives at Sydney Police Centre at Surry Hills. Picture: Dan Himbrechts.

Agent Tina Quinn, from the publisher Penguin Random House, said she was unable to comment on the book’s future or the case since Mr Dawson was charged with Lynette Dawson’s murder.

A link to the book on the website is no longer working.

However, Booktopia is still advertising the book priced at $27.40 and taking pre-orders. It is due for release on February 18.

The books promotional material says it was some years before Ms Hazel decided she would write about what happened to Ms Curtis.

Chris Dawson with his wife Lynette Dawson on their wedding day. She went missing in 1982 aged 33.

‘I could have chosen to turn away from this dark story. It wasn’t mine, after all. What exactly was I doing?” Ms Hazel said in the promotional literature.

“But whatever had happened to Lynette Dawson all those years ago, her daughters, her family and her friends hadn’t been able to turn away from it, and neither could Jo. So I decided not to either.”