Saturday, 17 January 2026

Recipe For Murder (True Crime) by Duncan McNab


About the book: Recipe for Murder (2025) is the astonishing story of Erin Patterson and the mushroom murder trial that horrified and enthralled the world. 

On 29 July 2023, the family and friends of Erin Patterson sat down for lunch in Leongatha, a small town in rural Australia. 

On the menu: beef Wellington. 

The next day, four of the guests were hospitalised, and within a week, Erin’s mother- and father-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and her husband’s aunt Heather Wilkinson were dead. Heather’s husband, Ian, survived but only just.

Doctors suspected death cap mushroom poisoning, and four months later, Patterson was arrested and charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. 

The case immediately captured media attention around the world. Had Patterson deliberately killed her estranged husband’s parents and aunt? 

Was the lunch a recipe for murder?

In this gripping new book, bestselling author, investigative journalist and former detective Duncan McNab expertly examines the sequence of events that left three people dead, and a community and family shattered. With forensic detail he brings to life the twists and turns of the trial and the dramatic final verdict: GUILTY!

About the author: Duncan McNab is a former police detective, private investigator specialising in criminal defence, investigative journalist and media adviser to government and the private sector. He is the author of twelve books, including the phenomenally bestselling Dead Man Running (with Ross Coulthart), Snapshot Killer, Waterfront and Roger Rogerson. Duncan was a producer on the Kennedy and Clarion award-winning Murder Uncovered series (7 Network) in 2017 and creator/series producer of the groundbreaking Australia Behind Bars (9 Network/ITV). 

In 2017, his book, Getting Away with Murder, won the Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime. In the same year, his bestselling book on disgraced former detective and convicted murderer, Roger Rogerson, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime. Duncan's forensic eye and engaging style makes him the perfect author to deep dive into the Erin Patterson case. 

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