'Undercover Coco - The Pine, the Crime and the Mystery Footprint' is Jo Siggins' debut book

She has used her experience writing about evidence for complex investigations to create a children's book about a dog that solves mysteries.

"My day job is that I am a professional investigator and I consult to various local state and government agencies, investigating fraud and integrity matters," she said.

"I don't hide in the car and spy on people but I do very complex investigations that do involve a lot of writing so I have drawn on that experience. But it's very different subject matter in this case."

The book was written in memory of Jo's beloved dog Coco, whose intelligent and inquisitive nature inspired the creation of the main character.

READ MORE North East Bioregional Network president calls on council to address 'appalling' foreshore

'Undercover Coco - The Pine, the Crime and the Mystery Footprint' is Jo Siggins' debut book and said it has been in the works for several years.

Illustrated by Kaz Hutchison, an award-winning Tasmanian artist, the mother-daughter team have released the book in time for Christmas.

Ms Siggins said that her mother Kaz has been involved in art of all kinds for as long as she can remember and said the pair are a perfect pairing, using both their creative skills to create the final product.

"I wrote the story a few years ago but I wanted my mum, who is an amazing artist, to illustrate the book and it took some time for our schedules to align but it has been a passion project for us both," said Ms Siggins.

"She has brought the characters to life with her beautiful hand-painted artwork, so I was really happy we were able to work on the book together."

The new book tells the story of Farmer Mike, who discovers a prized pine tree has been damaged, Coco the dog finds a footprint at the scene and goes undercover to investigate the animals on the farm. Will she crack the case and find the culprit?

MOST READ: Paul Reynolds died the day after Professional Standards visited

The book is available at Petrarch's Bookshop in Launceston, as well as Hope & Me in the Quadrant Mall, and online at Booktopia, Dymocks, Amazon and all good book retailers.

Jo and Kaz will be appearing at Petrarch's Launceston on Saturday, 25^th November from 10.30am - 12.00pm signing copies of their book.

"We do have Undercover Coco 2 is in the works, so that's also exciting as well to continue the journey."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Follow us on Google News: The Examiner