Not that long ago, I underwent a routine colonoscopy. Sitting in the waiting room with a grumbly tummy (brought on by pre-procedure nerves and pre-procedure medication), I was disturbed when the grim-faced surgeon summoned me into his office.

Sitting with him was the anaesthetist, who was wearing an equally stern look.

Media outside the court after the jury in the Erin Patterson trial began their deliberations.Credit: Jason South

“Tell us about the mushroom case,” the surgeon asked. The anaesthetist was just back from London where it was “the talk of the town”.

Considering what they were about to do to me, I told them everything I knew.

We are talking, of course, about the trial of Erin Patterson, accused of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. She maintained her innocence during her 10-week trial.

At the Morwell trial, there are a dozen documentary makers, a pod of podcasters and a herd of international hacks prepared to pay big-time for an exclusive. Lawyers are photographed entering court in the legal version of the red carpet, some onlookers have been sprung trying to take selfies in court. One onlooker drove from Sydney for a seat in the gallery.

The newspapers were blogging live and stories from the trial dominated online.

A Google search for Erin Patterson and mushrooms brings up 911,000 hits.

Winston Churchill: A machinegun response.Credit: Press Association

It made British and American papers and even sparked interest in Paris, the culinary capital of the world, with this headline: Affaire du bœuf Wellington empoisonné : le ‘thriller imprévisible et original’ qui fascine l’Australie (Poisonous beef wellington affair: The ‘unpredictable and original thriller’ that’s fascinating Australia).

Since Shakespeare’s Hamlet, we have been a little fascinated by poisonings.

Victims include Cleopatra, Hitler, Socrates, Rasputin and Phar Lap. Russian dissidents have been killed with the prod of a poisoned umbrella. Spies carry decoding devices and cyanide pills.

Even Winston Churchill purportedly dabbled in the field. When Lady Astor remarked, “If I were married to you, I’d put poison in your coffee,” Churchill responded, “If I were married to you, I’d drink it.”

In Japan, the deadly fugu fish is a delicacy that can........

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