The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a triple murder trial

Image credit: Penguin Books Australia

Stories are everywhere and, whether we truly realise it or not, they make up who we are and how we navigate the world. Everyone is the protagonist of their own story, and we seek to absorb more and more stories over the course of our lives to have goals to works towards, add sweetness and spice to our existences, and fill the free moments when we don’t have to be ‘on’.

One story that has caught the majority of Australia in a paralysis grip in the last year has been that of Erin Patterson, a stay-at-home mum who invited her ex-husband’s devoutly Christian family to a special lunch, from which three of the four attendees died from poisoning from death cap mushrooms. Of course I was aware, but did not follow the story myself – true crime is not particularly something that I am drawn to – but for many Australians the court trial of Patterson was the hot topic for conversation, discussion, analysis, and dissection.

The Mushroom Tapes is a collaborative work of non-fiction from Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, and Sarah Krasnostein – a narrative transcript of their various conversations they have with each other over the course of the trial.

This is a true-crime analysis like no other. These three intelligent and inquisitive women do not only discuss the trial proceedings, the characters in the courtroom, and the motives/meaning behind the crime. The book is also a unique exploration into the country’s collective obsession with Patterson’s crime. Absolutely everything from marital disappointment, to the female fascination with true crime, to intimacies of the kitchen, to the tendency to make retro dishes for special occasions is put under the microscope and poked and prodded to see just how many ways they can be reshaped.

The read itself is very easy and digestible. Being transcripts of their recorded conversations in the car as they drive to the trial, in the hotel room after court, on the phone when other commitments kept them separated, the book reads as intelligent and artistic banter between friends; like one might have around the lunch table. Simple, narrative descriptions of the people and places they visit over the course of the trial help to build the world and add the visual element that draws us into the voyeuristic world of the book, and like any conversations the tone swivels and swerves between the curious, the sympathetic, dramatic, humorous, morbid, and melancholy.

Image credit: Text Publishing

While I’m not sure if this is a book that I would read again, it was different and certainly fascinating to hear down-to-earth voices talking about the bigger picture that sits in the background of a courtroom drama.

Author: Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, & Sarah Krasnostein, 2025

Published: The Text Publishing Company, Victoria, 2025