A South Australian man will face court in Brisbane on Friday charged over the cold case murder of mother-of-three Dorothy Britton.

Ms Britton, 52, was shot in the head at her Airlie Beach home 22 years ago. Police believe she knew her killer.

Brisbane homicide detectives on Thursday afternoon arrested a 51-year-old man, a Port Neill resident who previously resided in Airlie Beach.

Cold case homicide detectives have today charged a man with the murder of Dorothy Britton at Airlie Beach in 1996. https://t.co/f8HaAiS6Kr pic.twitter.com/ff2E0BgY3S

— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) June 21, 2018

Cold case detectives had recently followed up leads in South Australia and north Queensland and this month said the murderer was a "close associate of hers".

Police on Thursday said the killer had confessed to others and they've called for them to come forward.

AAP