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Episode Description

Bern, Switzerland—known for its narrow cobblestone streets, decorative fountains, and striking towers. Yet dark currents run through this charming medieval city and beyond, to the idyllic farmlands that surround it. After a rave on a hot summer’s night erupts into violent riots, a young man is found the next morning bludgeoned to death with a policeman’s club. Later that day, an elderly organic farmer turns up dead and drenched with pesticide. Seasoned detective Giuliana Linder is assigned to the first death, while her younger colleague Renzo Donatelli heads out to the countryside to investigate the second. Giuliana’s disappointment that they won’t be working together is tinged with relief. Her life is complicated enough without having to deal with the distractingly attractive Renzo. But when an unexpected discovery ties the two victims into a single case, Giuliana and Renzo are thrown together closer than ever before. Their investigation takes them down a dangerous path, threatening not only Giuliana’s marriage but also her assumptions about the police. To prevent the murderer from killing again, she’ll have to put her life on the line—and her principles. This debut mystery in the Polizei Bern series is a suspenseful detective story laced with romance. An inventive tale with a fascinating Swiss setting, it’s packed with enough surprises to keep you guessing till the end. Drop in with us to find out how Kim Hays wrote her first crime novel to much acclaim, how she’ll turn it into a series, and turn her dream of writing a murder mystery into reality.

Kim Hays is a dual citizen (Swiss/American) who has made her home in Bern since she married a Swiss. Before that she lived in San Juan, Vancouver, and Stockholm, as well as the US, her birthplace. Since the age of seventeen she has worked at a wide variety of jobs, from factory forewoman to director of a small nonprofit and, in Switzerland, from sociology lecturer to cross-cultural trainer. She began writing mysteries when her son left for college. Pesticide, the first book in the Polizei Bern series, featuring detectives Giuliana Linder and Renzo Donatelli, will be published by Seventh Street Books on April 19, 2022. It was shortlisted for the 2020 Debut Dagger award by the Crime Writers’ Association. Hays has a BA in English history and literature from Harvard and a PhD in cultural sociology from UC-Berkeley. The Rest of the Story When I was twenty-six, I met my husband, Peter, on a park bench in the south of France. A week after our wedding, we settled in his hometown of Bern in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and I’ve lived here ever since. In fact, we’re still in the same neighborhood we moved to as newlyweds. In between being born in the US and moving to Bern, I lived in twenty homes; six of those were in San Juan, Vancouver, and Stockholm. Being forced to learn new languages and adapt to different cultures from childhood on turned out to be very useful preparation for marrying a Swiss and moving to Switzerland. Peter and I have a son, Thomas.

Kim Hays

Kim Hays is a dual citizen (Swiss/American) who has made her home in Bern since she married a Swiss. Before that she lived in San Juan, Vancouver, and Stockholm, as well as the US, her birthplace. Since the age of seventeen she has worked at a wide variety of jobs, from factory forewoman to director of a small nonprofit and, in Switzerland, from sociology lecturer to cross-cultural trainer. She began writing mysteries when her son left for college. Pesticide, the first book in the Polizei Bern series, featuring detectives Giuliana Linder and Renzo Donatelli, will be published by Seventh Street Books on April 19, 2022. It was shortlisted for the 2020 Debut Dagger award by the Crime Writers’ Association. Hays has a BA in English history and literature from Harvard and a PhD in cultural sociology from UC-Berkeley. The Rest of the Story When I was twenty-six, I met my husband, Peter, on a park bench in the south of France. A week after our wedding, we settled in his hometown of Bern in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and I’ve lived here ever since. In fact, we’re still in the same neighborhood we moved to as newlyweds. In between being born in the US and moving to Bern, I lived in twenty homes; six of those were in San Juan, Vancouver, and Stockholm. Being forced to learn new languages and adapt to different cultures from childhood on turned out to be very useful preparation for marrying a Swiss and moving to Switzerland. Peter and I have a son, Thomas.