Overview
- The Mushroom Tapes is built from recorded conversations the three writers had while covering the roughly 10‑week trial in Morwell, later edited from 265,000 words to a 50,000‑word book.
- Text Publishing releases the book in Australia on 11 November, with a UK edition from W&N due on 20 November.
- The authors describe an absence of a clear motive, portraying the case as petty deceptions and ordinary self‑absorption rather than a single driving rationale.
- Their reporting revisits how the July 2023 lunch led to three deaths and a fourth person in a coma, the guilty verdicts returned months ago, and Patterson’s current appeal as she maintains the deaths were accidental.
- Garner recounts Patterson’s composed testimony and enduring mystery, while the trio reflect on the media frenzy, the limits of courtroom narratives, and the burden borne by the victims’ family and community.