Event information
Poison has long been considered the archetypal “women’s weapon”—requiring no great strength, only access and opportunity within domestic spaces. But is this idea fact or fiction?
Join Chloe Hooper, co‑author of The Mushroom Tapes; Linda Glowacki, toxicologist from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine; and Angela Savage, author and expert on Agatha Christie and poisons, in conversation with host and true‑crime expert Vikki Petraitis. The panel discussion will run for approximately one hour, followed by audience questions, with a book awarded for the best question.
The event explores the cultural, forensic, and literary dimensions of poison, including renewed public fascination following the 2025 trial of Erin Patterson over deaths caused by death cap mushrooms. That case attracted global attention and inspired The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial (Text Publishing), written by Chloe Hooper, Helen Garner, and Sarah Krasnostein. The book was Readings’ top‑selling title last year and will be available for purchase at the Sun Bookshop stall.
The discussion will also examine Agatha Christie’s extensive use of poison in more than 30 novels, drawing on her wartime experience as a hospital dispenser. The session offers insight into history, narrative, science, and society’s enduring obsession with women and poison.
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