Recipe for Murder

The poisonous truth behind Erin Patterson – the mushroom murderer of Leongatha

By: Duncan McNab

Narrated by: Duncan McNab

THE DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT OF ERIN PATTERSON AND THE MUSHROOM MURDER TRIAL THAT ENTHRALLED THE WORLD

It is the case that has fascinated many.

On 29 July 2023 in Leongatha, a small town in rural Victoria, family and friends of local woman Erin Patterson sit down for Saturday lunch. On the menu, Beef Wellington.

The next day, four of the guests are hospitalised. Doctors suspect death cap mushroom poisoning. Within a week, three of them will be dead.

On 2 November that same year, Erin Patterson is arrested and charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder. Held in custody at Dame Phyllis Frost women's prison until her trial began in April 2025, the case captured media attention around the world.

Did Patterson deliberately poison her estranged husband's parents, aunt and uncle?

Was the lunch a recipe for murder? Patterson insisted no. She was innocent of any crime. Not guilty, she declared to the court.

A jury of her peers have now decided the answer to those two questions. So how did a respected country woman come to find her relationships and behaviour dissected by police and prosecutors?

Bestselling author, investigative journalist and former detective, Duncan McNab has sifted through the evidence, spoken to witnesses and attended the nine-week trial.

In this gripping book, McNab expertly explains the sequence of events that left three people dead, a community and family shattered and brought Erin Patterson to stand trial. With forensic detail he reveals why the verdict fell the way it did. GUILTY!