Melanie Lynskey to Lead Paramount+ Limited Series on Australian Mushroom Murders Case

Melanie Lynskey has found her next television project, and it keeps her at Paramount+. The Yellowjackets star will headline and executive produce a limited series currently titled Mushroom Murders, based on a notorious 2023 homicide case in Australia.

The drama was created by Anya Beyersdorf (Apple Cider Vinegar), Daina Reid (The Handmaid's Tale) and Deb Balderstone (Dustfall). Soapbox Pictures is producing it. Lynskey will play Erin Patterson, the central figure in the case.

According to the official description, Patterson served individual beef wellingtons to her estranged in-laws and their relatives at a lunch in her Victoria home in 2023. Her guests did not know that the food was allegedly prepared with highly toxic death cap mushrooms. Three guests died as a result. The limited series covers the 97 days between that lunch and Patterson's later arrest.

Beverley McGarvey, president of Network 10 and head of streaming for Paramount Australia, said the show brings a gripping real-life story to the screen. In her words, the case "captivated Australia and the world," and the series will be told with the scale, quality and creative vision audiences expect from Paramount+. She called it a powerful addition to the streamer's growing slate of premium storytelling.

McGarvey also welcomed Lynskey to the project, saying the actor's "remarkable talent will be integral to the series both on screen and as an executive producer."

Lynskey will next appear in the final season of Yellowjackets, which premieres Nov. 20 on Paramount+. Her recent credits include the Netflix movie Don't Say Good Luck, a guest role on CBS' Matlock opposite her husband, Jason Ritter, and the first season of The Last of Us, which featured a different kind of mushroom murder. She is represented by Gersh.

Behind the camera, Reid will direct all six episodes. Beyersdorf, Reid, Balderstone and Lynskey will serve as executive producers alongside Xavier Marchand and Sophia Mogford of Paramount+. Beyersdorf, Dianne Taylor and Belinda Chayko are writing the series.