The Mushroom Tapes

Too much pontification, no recipes By David Langsam ‘The Mushroom Tapes – Conversations on a triple murder trial’ by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein A gripping story, almost well told, but the excessive debates and opinions get in the road of the narrative. I appreciate …

Too much pontification, no recipes By David Langsam ‘The Mushroom Tapes – Conversations on a triple murder trial’ by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein A gripping story, almost well told, but the excessive debates and opinions get in the road of the narrative. I appreciate the need to do something different with this story. But courtroom narrative is what Helen Garner does very well. The back and forth has its merits, but it also has its demerits. I don’t mind the reflections on how the three feel different ideas, and in some parts, it’s quite illuminating to think outside the box or to break the book’s only wall. But there are parts – particularly towards the end - where it slows the story down and gets in the road of the narrative. We don’t learn much that followers of the Erin Patterson case don’t know, but there were a number of revelations to this casual observer. Patterson was a ‘true crime’ buff and involved in Facebook pages on the subject. At one point we are told that 70 percent of Amazon true crime reviews are by women with 82 percent of war books reviewed by men. Patterson was an air traffic controller sacked for leaving her shifts early. It has this private pilot wondering whether 747 Alfa Bravo Charlie was on short final for Runway 35 calling the Tower and receiving no response. Patterson hired the union lawyer who was dismayed when shown the CCTV of her leaving early. “You didn’t tell me. We’re in this together,” he said. “I’m not in the union,” Patterson retorted. Forensic examination of the dehydrator she lied about owning showed two things: Patterson’s fingerprints and traces of death cap mushrooms. I do like the literary asides on Medea and the academic asides on mycology: “The fungal spores are always there in the soil and then the mushroom suddenly shoots out; just as there is always murderous intent”. But the vast majority of us don’t spend much time on it and certainly don't act on it. What I didn’t know was that prosecutor Dr Nannette Rogers showed the court a map of all the countries that have death cap mushrooms. One country that doesn’t have them stands out – China. So, the ‘Asian grocery’, which Patterson couldn’t remember whether it was in Oakleigh, Clayton, Glen Waverley or Mount Waverley, was looking less likely – as her relatives lay dying at the Austin Hospital. There is a lot of reflection on the psychology of Patterson, probably too much. She is described as “intelligent” but not bright enough to remember her own lies. She is a compulsive liar, but that doesn’t make her a murderer. It sure didn’t help her case. In the end we know the result. Guilty of three murders and at least one attempted murder – her attempts at killing her husband weren’t part of these proceedings - and a sentence of life with a 33-year non-parole period. Patterson is appealing the conviction and the Department of Public Prosecutions is appealing the brevity of the sentence. My final criticism, is that unlike the late great Peter Olszewski’s ‘A Salute to the Humble Yabby’, there are no Beef Wellington recipes at the back of the book. David Langsam Melbourne, November 2025 ‘The Mushroom Tapes – Conversations on a triple murder trial’ by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein Published by Text ISBN 9 789123 058750 Paperback $29.99 at Readings