Erin Patterson’s ‘true crime’ Facebook friend Daniela Barkley to release book on mushroom murder saga

A former online friend of Erin Patterson has released promotion material for her upcoming novel based on her “real life” experiences with the triple murderer.

Between 2019 and 2013, Daniela Barkley and Patterson were in the same true crime enthusiast Facebook group, where members discussed everything from their family lives, news and current events, and politics.

Barkley would go on to be one of the three women from the group who testified for the prosecution at 50-year-old’s trial earlier this year.

Now, the first-time author has released a snippet of her upcoming self-published book, “Bloody Good Friends”, which delves into the mushroom murders from the perspective of Patterson’s online community.

“Bella and Eden have never met in person but are the best of friends. They have been chatting to one another almost every day for years,” the blurb begins.

“Along with three other women that they met in an online true crime group, they share jokes personal stories, pandemic updates, and recipes.

“Sometimes Eden goes missing for days or weeks. When she returns to their private group chat, she always has a tale to tell. But when she leaves the conversation for the final time, the four women are left scratching their heads in confusion.

“That is until late one night, they see images of Eden’s house splashed across the news along with a story about death cap mushrooms being served for a lunch gathering. With three people dead and another fighting for life, Eden is named as the mushroom cook and prime suspect.”

The plot goes on to explore how the “small tightknit true crime discussion group” are “faced with online trolls, confusion, and questionable accounts about what really happened on the day of the lunch”.

“With their group now down by one member, cracks start to form and suspicions about truth and loyalty begin to rise,” the blurb continues.

“Bella wonders if their online friendship has run its course, and whether this event will be the one thing that finally tears them apart.”

On a website dedicated to the book, Barkley said the fictional account was “based on real life events including family secrets, whacky true crime groups, friends and foes, plus a bizarre murder case that has gripped the entire world and landed a group of true crime fans in the middle of their own mysterious battle for the truth”.

The website has since been taken down and is unable to be reached.

She is yet to announce the novel’s release date, however, her company, Barkley Books will be registered for GST from November, signaling when she may anticipate to start sales.

If so, it will be a quick promotional tour for the novel, whose publisher was only registered with ASIC last month.

But the Melbourne mother appears to be steaming ahead with her project, recently updating customers of her fake flowers business that she is taking a hiatus to redirect her energy into her literary pursuit.

“Hi all, I’m taking a short break to focus on a novel that I am writing,” she wrote on her Etsy page two days ago.

“All remaining orders will be fulfilled.

“See you in a few weeks.”

The front cover of the novel mirrors the scene outside Patterson’s home in the days after the poisonings when a single box of flowers were left on the mother-of-two’s fence by her supporters.

At that time, Patterson was being questioned by detectives about the lunch but had not been charged.

She was arrested in November 2023 and found guilty by a jury of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in her Supreme Court in Morwell in July.

Taking the stand at trial, Barkley told the court she met Pattesron in a true crime group in 2019, before that initial group was dissolved and reformed with a smaller number of members.

“She was quite active at the beginning, perhaps in the first couple of years, but in the last year or so, she barely posted in there,” Barkley told the court.

Barkley said Patterson appeared to be a devoted mother and she confided with group members about her marital issues.

Barkley said Patterson had also shared with the group that she “loved” mushrooms, had asked for advice cooking beef wellington, and posted photos of her dehydrating fungi in the months before the lunch.

Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died days after eating a beef wellington laced with deadly mushrooms at Patterson’s home in July 2023.

Heather’s husband Ian spent months critically ill in hospital, but survived.

Patterson is being housed at Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre, a maximum security women’s prison in Melbourne.

She will be sentenced on September 8.