The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein – Our Review

Our Review…

At one stage during the murder trial of Erin Patterson there were 252 journalists and media outlets on the court email lists, including 15 international outlets. There were seven podcasters, seven documentary crews, one TV drama series crew and nine authors. The ‘Mushroom murders’ case was inescapable, the coverage unprecedented. There have been at least three books already published about it, and that’s alongside numerous podcasts and television, radio and print reports. So you could certainly be forgiven for thinking you do not need to read one more thing.

The Mushroom Tapes is different. It’s not so much about the case, as it is about who Erin Patterson might be and why we were all so obsessed with this strange crime. Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein are all exceptional writers and certainly no strangers to a courtroom or to writing non-fiction works about important issues. The book unfolds like a conversation (in fact it was initially intended as a podcast) as the trio travel from Melbourne to Gippsland together to follow the case. It’s three friends talking together – about mundane, everyday things and about life’s bigger questions. It’s a very different account of an over-reported trial – insightful, reflective, compassionate and, of course given the authors we’re talking about, extremely thoughtful. Helen, Chloe and Sarah focus on the human aspects of the case, uncovering its complexity (where so much of what else was written was pure voyeurism) and the difficulties they had in being more voices weighing in. In their struggle to find meaning in it all, they have crafted a book that offers a fresh perspective on a saga that many are tired of hearing about.

Review by Andi @ Great Escape Books