Kim Hays

Kim Hays is a dual citizen of Switzerland and the US who lives in Bern with her Swiss husband. Before her marriage, she lived in San Juan, Vancouver, and Stockholm, as well as around the States. Kim has worked at a variety of jobs, from factory forewoman to director of a small nonprofit organization, from university lecturer to cross-cultural trainer for multinational firms. She has a BA from Harvard and a Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley.

Published by Seventh Street Books, PESTICIDE, the first book in the Polizei Bern series, was shortlisted for the CWA’s 2020 Debut Dagger Award and Killer Nashville’s 2023 Silver Falchion award for Best Mystery. Kim’s second book was SONS AND BROTHERS; Kirkus Reviews called it “a smart Swiss procedural that keeps its mystery ticking,” and Julia Spencer-Fleming rated it “a must-read.” A FONDNESS FOR TRUTH, the third Polizei Bern book, which again features detectives Linder and Donatelli, came out in 2024. BookLife Reviews, which chose A FONDNESS FOR TRUTH as an Editor’s Pick, considered it a “stellar” police procedural: an “empathetic, entertaining, smartly plotted mystery [that] will keep readers guessing.”