About this Event
Join us at Ryde Library as Australian author and award-winning screenwriter Greg Haddrick shares the shocking story of a weekend lunch laced with a highly toxic mushroom, and a triple M**der trial that gripped the world, shattered a family and gave a mother a life sentence. Greg will be chatting about his new book, The Mushroom Murders, with Walkley Awards winning journalist and fellow author Malcolm Knox. The event will be Auslan interpreted and our venue is wheelchair accessible.
Attendees on the night have a chance to win a signed copy. There will be on onsite bookseller for purchase of the book and Greg & Malcolm will be available for signing and questions.
Please note: This event has a 6.30 pm arrival time for a 6.45 pm event start time.
In association with Allen & Unwin.
About the book
A family lunch. Three deaths. What really happened?
On 29 July 2023, Erin Patterson hosted a family lunch at her home in the small regional Victorian town of Leongatha. She had invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, and her husband Ian.
Erin made beef Wellington for her guests, individual beef eye fillets covered in mushroom paste, wrapped in pastry. The following day, all four guests were taken to hospital, and Heather, Gail and Don died. Ian Wilkinson barely survived. A toxicologist found traces of the highly poisonous death cap mushroom in the remains of the meal.
At first, it appeared to be a dreadful accident. As the police investigation continued, the evidence mounted, seeming to point one way. Yet Erin Patterson spun a web of lies, and steadfastly claimed she did not intend to harm her relatives.
Greg Haddrick tells the fascinating inside story of the dramatic M**der trial, and the forensic evidence that convinced the jury to convict a suburban mother of a gruesome triple M**der. With many details not previously revealed in the media, it is the compelling story of a troubled family, and the world's most poisonous mushroom, which is readily found in parks and gardens.
About the Author
Greg Haddrick is a Logie Award-winning screenwriter and film and television producer. His credits include the TV series Underbelly, Janet King, and Pine Gap, and he has also won seven AWGIE Awards as a writer, three AFI Awards as a producer, and an International Emmy Award nomination as a writer and producer. He is the author of In the Dead of Night about the Wonnangatta Valley murders, which was shortlisted for the 2025 Danger Awards.
About the Interviewer
Malcolm Knox grew up in Sydney. Since 1994 Malcolm has written for the Sydney Morning Herald and has won three Walkley Awards and a Human Rights Award. His novels include Summerland; A Private Man, winner of the Ned Kelly Award; Jamaica, which won the Colin Roderick Award and was shortlisted in the 2008 Prime Minister's Literary Awards; The Life; The Wonder Lover; and Bluebird. His many non-fiction titles include Boom: The Underground History of Australia; From Gold Rush to GFC, which won the 2013 Ashurst Business Literature Prize; and Bradman's War, shortlisted in the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Ryde Library, 1 Pope Street, Ryde, Australia
AUD 0.00
