Three of Australia's most celebrated nonfiction writers have joined forces to examine one of the country's most notorious criminal cases in The Mushroom Tapes, a unique collaboration born from observing Erin Patterson's dramatic murder trial.
A Trial That Captivated a Nation
The case that gripped Australia saw Erin Patterson found guilty in July of murdering three people – her in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson. She was also convicted of the attempted murder of Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson. The court sentenced Patterson to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years, though she has since launched an appeal against her conviction.
Over eleven weeks, the Victorian Supreme Court in Morwell became the centre of national attention as baroque details of the case emerged. Among the observers in courtroom four were literary heavyweights Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, whose presence hinted at forthcoming works about the tragedy that had already been extensively analysed by experts and amateurs alike.
An Unconventional Collaboration
Just one week after the guilty verdict was delivered, Text Publishing announced the three authors would collaborate on The Mushroom Tapes. The project originally conceived as a podcast evolved into a book drawn largely from transcripts of conversations recorded during their travels between Melbourne and Morwell.
The authors acknowledge their own conflicted feelings about covering the case. "People say to us, you must be going. No, we answer. No. No. No," they write, yet they found themselves repeatedly drawn to Morwell, admitting "the current of the story has a stronger pull than we had expected."
In the book, they appear as Helen, Chloe and Sarah, creating an intimate portrait of their conversations as they attempt to make sense of the tragedy. The preserved dialogue includes everyday moments – offers of mandarins and biscuits – that ground their discussions in the reality of sustained friendships and the nourishment required to process difficult subjects.
Moral Dilemmas and Public Fascination
The authors don't shy away from addressing the ethical questions surrounding their project and the public's appetite for true crime. Chloe Hooper voices particular concern, stating: "This trial is being used for public entertainment. I feel squeamish about joining the pile-on."
Yet they acknowledge the widespread fascination with the case. Hooper observes that wherever she goes – whether to her children's sports events or the hairdresser – people are either consuming multiple podcasts daily or expressing strong revulsion toward the coverage.
The book demonstrates particular compassion for Patterson's unnamed children, with Sarah Krasnostein noting that "they've been handed this bag of stones that they'll carry for the rest of their lives" – one of the work's most memorable lines.
The Enduring Mystery of Erin Patterson
Despite their initial reservations, the authors find themselves captivated by Erin Patterson herself. Krasnostein describes her as bouncing "between smallness and grandiosity", while Hooper notes she "radiates discontent".
Perhaps most revealing is the personal connection the authors feel toward the accused. Garner admits: "It's not that I'm big-hearted or anything, it's just that I have this awful feeling – that could be me." This sense of identification deepens as they discover various connections to Patterson and her wider family, with Garner later observing that "the gap between her and me shrank down really small" after watching Patterson's testimony.
The book's format, committed to immediacy and intimacy through its conversational style and present-tense reporting, reflects the contemporary true crime landscape. While extremely readable, it ultimately joins the extensive public discourse surrounding the Patterson case rather than standing completely apart from it.
With conversation events featuring the authors selling out well before the book's publication date, and Patterson's appeal pending, public discussion of this family tragedy shows no signs of abating. The Mushroom Tapes offers a distinctive literary perspective on a case that has already generated multiple books and will likely inspire more to come.
The Mushroom Tapes is available now in Australia through Text Publishing (£36.99) and will be published in the UK on 20 November.
