What’s more, it promises to be a jolly good read when all the loose ends are tied up.

Stef Powell, Warrigal Station, Mount Coolon has pulled on both her Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie caps in order to uncover the truth behind the man after which her North Queensland home town was named; Thomas Coolon.

While she admits she failed English, her determination and interest in the story has so far lead her write several chapters of a promising book on Thomas Coolon and his reputation.

Stef’s potential book however has a significant twist to it.

Rather than simply come up with a list of facts about the man, Stef has relayed the information in a narrative form, telling Thomas’s tale beginning with his grandfather.

Like many good ideas born in the bush, Stef said she first came across the story after a session at the Mount Coolon Hotel.

“The more I read about him, the more intrigued I was about the story,” Stef said.

“Many people have written a little bit about Tom Coolon and in a lot of it, the truth has been extended which makes it difficult to determine what is fact and what is fiction.

“Every Tom, Dick and Harry all had their own version of events and bits have been taken out and added in over time.”

As if filtering out the fact from fiction was hard enough, the difficulty is increased by conducting the project from a regional centre.

“Most of the information I need is located at the state archives in Brisbane which makes things difficult,” Stef said.

“The whole research thing has been difficult due to where I live, I can't just pop down to the library.

“A lot of info has started on the net and then followed up with phone calls.

“I have tried talking to people but most of the people that know the most about this man and his era have all passed on.”

*Full story in this week’s North Queensland Register, out Thursday.