Emma Partridge's Widow of Walcha a best-selling book in Tamworth, detailing Natasha Beth Darcy's unbelievable murder of Mathew Dunbar

But the callous plot the woman known as the Widow of Walcha concocted was so twisted she found herself shocked at every turn, even after five years covering the case.

Ms Partridge's book The Widow of Walcha has been a best-seller in Tamworth since it hit shelves six months ago - and the story could even come to life on the screen.

"Watch this space," she told the Leader.

She revealed there had already been some interest in developing the true crime for television.

Ms Partridge, a long-term crime reporter, remembers the moment she decided to put pen to paper in a way she never had before.

She was sitting in court for a hearing before Natasha Beth Darcy was to stand trial for murdering her sheep grazier partner Mathew Dunbar at his Walcha property in 2017 in a ploy to inherit his money.

"They were talking about tendency evidence [in court] and Natasha's tendency to attack her partners for financial gain," she said.

Darcy, now serving 40 years behind bars for murder, had once been charged with attempting to kill her estranged husband Colin Crossman.

She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge but a few years later she "does it again to some poor bloke who just wanted a family", Ms Partridge said.

"I was gobsmacked when the Crown argued that she had drugged Colin in the same way that she had drugged Mathew," she said.

"I remember hearing words like 'laced the tacos' and 'oysters Kilpatrick' trying to poison her estranged husband ... in the same way she ended up blending sedatives in a Nutribullet to kill Mathew."

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Ms Partridge told the Leader her "jaw was dropping" right up to just a couple of weeks before her book deadline as she interviewed more of Darcy's former partners.

"I just could not believe the things these men were telling me," she said.

She said she felt it was important to lay bare Darcy's dark past in detail in a book.

"I think a lot of people when they only hear a summary of the case think 'oh, why did that farmer fall for her?' ... and I think it does Mathew justice in a way to show how manipulative and conniving she is," she said.

"She was very good at what she did, and that was prey on vulnerabilities ... she was obsessed with money.

"I think it's one of those cases where people don't believe it - some of the things she did are so unbelievable."

Ms Partridge dug through boxes of past court files from Tamworth and Armidale for the book.

"I was shocked every step of the way," she said.

Six months since The Widow of Walcha was released, Ms Partridge said it was special to return to the region this week with an event at Collins Booksellers in Tamworth.

Ms Partridge said she hoped her work shone a light on Mr Dunbar and the kind, generous and loving person he was.

"In writing the book, it was just awful to see the loss ... but it was also nice to hear the stories that people had about Mathew," she said.

"Walcha and the people who live there will stay with me."

Darcy was found guilty of murder in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney last year.

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