COMP CLOSED | Book Giveaway | The Glasgow Smile

From the New Zealand award-winning author of For Reasons of Their Own comes her second page-turning crime thriller

In a grimy graffiti-covered recess in one of Melbourne tangled inner city laneways, a woman is found murdered. ‘Why would anyone want to kill her? She was so ordinary,’ was the oft-repeated phrase DI Robbie Gray heard when the name of the deceased was revealed.

So why, then, she asked herself, was the body found propped up in such an extraordinary position, almost as if she was intimate with the portrait on the wall. Was this death intended to be symbolic, or was the placement merely a device to deceive?

Set against a background of civil unrest and rising white extremism, a government tainted by corruption and a family desperate to hide secrets, DI Robbie Gray, along with her Indigenous officer Mac, dig deep. As they work the case, they must also grapple with their own demons of guilt and failure while determining a motive.

Was this a random thrill kill, politically driven or tragically personal? When an arrest is made, DI Robbie Gray realises that not all killers hold a weapon, masks don’t always disguise, and the legacy of long-held secrets can have tragic consequences.

Author Note:

‘This crime novel was inspired by a series of random events, including a stint working as a nurse with Indigenous communities in the outback, my time in rural Victoria attempting to become an author as well as my long standing passion of iconography in Art. These disparate events culminated in a late winter’s night visit to the cobblestoned graffiti-filled art laneways of inner city Melbourne, where images, slogans and stencils of all shapes and sizes were painted alongside opinions, ideologies, religious and political beliefs. Every available surface, wall, window and darkened recesses were willing canvasses, covered in a visual cacophony of colour. One particular portrait struck me, and I began to think of how historically, visual images and symbols used in art have been deliberately misappropriated or culturally corrupted by not only the powerful but also the powerless, and how this can alter a society’s consciousness and lead to destructive forces. The thought of a dead body being discovered resting against one of these images sent shivers down my spine and provided me with the perfect setting for a murder. The Glasgow Smile is also a story of moral ambiguity, of camouflage, of how we see one image but it hides another and how sometimes we need lies to hold ourselves together simply because the truth isn’t good enough.’

About the author:

Chris is an adventurer at heart, and she has led a restless and uncertain but exciting life, mostly in the Middle East, Indonesia and the Pacific. Chris was born and raised in Christchurch and is the oldest of nine children. Chris trained as a nurse and then later completed a post-grad degree in Art History, followed by a Masters in International and Community Development. As soon as it was possible, she headed overseas. For nearly twenty years she lived in different countries and had different roles within the health sector as a humanitarian worker, a nurse and consultant, working with such organisations as Red Cross, Oxfam, the UN and AusAID. She has worked in outback Australia with Aboriginal communities, war zones, disasters, disease outbreaks and famine and had witnessed the best and worst of humanity. It was often her art history degree that came in the most useful when working in remote places because this was often a safe subject to discuss, and her knowledge specific to a particular country impressed people and created trust.

Chris was the winner of the Ngaio March Best First Novel Award, for her debut novel, For Reasons of Their Own, which was also shortlisted for the NZ Booklovers Fiction Award 2021. Chris was also long listed for the DAVITT awards in Australia.

Terms and conditions

1. 1. You must be a GrownUps member and receive our newsletter to be eligible to win.
   2. Competition closes on the 4th July 2023, winners will be notified via email by 6th July 2023.
   3. It is your responsibility to ensure you correctly enter a New Zealand postal address where the prize can be couriered. GrownUps will not take responsibility for prizes sent to incorrect addresses.
   4. Winners are drawn at random by the GrownUps administration team.
   5. GrownUps employees and family are not eligible to enter.
   6. By entering the giveaway, you approve for GrownUps to use your name on social media as winner of the competition.
   7. One entry per household.
   8. Prize is non transferrable.
   9. You must reside in New Zealand – the prize will only be posted within New Zealand.
   10. You must be over 50 years of age to enter, check your details are correct in your membership dashboard.