A Discovery Award

Last month, I was blowing my own horn about the May launch of Splintered Justice, and today I’m tooting away again—this time about my third book, A Fondness for Truth, which I submitted last year for a 2025 Indie Reader award. Indie Reader (IR) was founded in 2009 to provide support for self-published, hybrid, and small-press authors, and Seventh Street Books, my publisher, is small enough to make my Linder and Donatelli mysteries eligible for IR’s competition.

I’ve just found out that I won a second-place Indie Reader Discovery Award in the fiction category. Note: Fiction, not mysteries. Hurray!

Here’s what the IR staff said about A Fondness for Truth:

A FONDNESS FOR TRUTH, the third book in the Polizei Bern series (all set in Bern, Switzerland) by Kim Hays features detectives Linder and Donatelli in an outstanding mystery that never skimps on either the procedural elements of solving the murder or the humanity of those affected by the crime. Both detectives are deeply committed to their work and justice, but their lives outside of work also matter. The book is tightly plotted and paced, with new revelations peeling back like an onion to reach the heart of the murder. The characters are smart, engaging, complex, and nuanced as they face challenges both professional and personal. The chemistry and dynamic between Linder and Donatelli are terrific and layered. This book can be read as a standalone, but it will drive readers back to the first two books in the series and have them eagerly awaiting the next one. A top-notch mystery by an excellent writer.

In his review of the book, IR’s Kent Lane called it “an intelligent, emotionally resonant novel.” He wrote:

A FONDNESS FOR TRUTH is a top-tier police procedural, written with flair by an author who is rapidly establishing her Polizei Bern series as a must-read for crime fiction fans. What sets Kim Hays apart is her deft balance: a smart, absorbing, and well-paced mystery paired with the emotional depth of her central characters.

If you’d like to read the one-page review, here it is: https://indiereader.com/book_review/a-fondness-for-truth/#book_review