The Schoolgirl, Her Teacher and His Wife

By: Rebecca Hazel

Narrated by: Natasha Beaumont

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Teacher and former rugby league player Chris Dawson appeared to have it all - a loving family and a beautiful home in Sydney's Northern Beaches. But in the summer of 1982 his wife Lynette disappeared and not long afterwards Dawson married a much younger woman, a former student.

Less than a decade later this young woman escaped the marriage and went to the police to record her suspicions that Dawson had been involved in Lynette's disappearance. A homicide investigation followed but got nowhere until 1998, when Detective Sergeant Damian Loone was handed Lynette's file. For nearly two decades he made it his business to honour Lynette and to find out what had happened to her. His work led to two coronial investigations, but no charges.

Around this time Rebecca Hazel was working in a women's refuge on the Northern Beaches when a colleague shared her story of enduring coercive control at the hands of Dawson, when she was his student, and then wife and she shared her suspicions about the fate of his first wife Lynette. These revelations affected Rebecca, and eventually she decided to investigate.

Over years, coroners, police and journalists all shared with Rebecca their knowledge of the case, and disappointments that it remained unsolved. Until, in May 2018, Hedley Thomas launched the Teacher's Pet podcast, and in December 2018, Chris Dawson was charged with murder. He was convicted in August 2022.

Rebecca Hazel has spent ten years working to ensure that the stories of two women who were misused by Chris Dawson are heard, that their perpetrator is brought to justice and that Lynette's family can properly honour their much-loved sister, aunt, cousin and mother.

©2023 Rebecca Hazel (P)2023 Penguin Random House Australia

Nicely done

Well researched. although I can't say I finished it in one setting, it did capture my attention.

A new POV

If you've been following the case, this book is a must-get! It gives depth to The Teachers Pet podcast, and Hedly Thomas' book. And because this book was started before the other works, there are a number of full stories that were only lightly touched upon elsewhere. Further, it feels more personal since it deals much more with first person interviews, and the author adds more emotion to the characters that we've become familiar with.

Well done

So well-researched, compelling, and powerful. Highly recommended to flowers of The Teacher’s Pet podcast.

Excellent

The writing and the narration were excellent. It was definitely worth my time and my credit.

Difficult to finish.

I hate to write this. However, this was really difficult for me to stay focused and keep listening to this book. The story itself was one that needed to be told but maybe in a different way. I found myself really bored. I apologize for the negative rating.