I’m sure all of you host visitors now and then, whether they are close friends staying in your homes for a week or acquaintances passing through for a day or two. Have you developed favorite places to take them? We certainly have. The first outing is always a tour of Bern’s Old Town, which inevitablyContinue reading “Beauty Spots near Bern”
Author Archives: Kim Hays
An Extraordinary Indian Family
I bought Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water as an audiobook less than three months after it was published in 2023, and for two years, I would look at that title among the list of downloaded books on my cell phone, only to choose something else to listen to. I couldn’t convince myself to startContinue reading “An Extraordinary Indian Family”
Listen to PESTICIDE for $12.99
I just found out that the audiobook of Pesticide, the first Linder and Donatelli mystery—the book in which Renzo and Giuliana fall for each other while solving two murders—is available at half price. Click below if you’d like to listen to the first half hour or buy a copy! https://www.audiobooks.com/promotions/promotedBook/595022/pesticide?refId=209459
A New Swiss Battleground
August 1 is Switzerland’s equivalent of the Fourth of July. Americans commemorate freeing themselves from British rule. The Swiss celebrate Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the three original Swiss cantons, fighting off conquest by the Habsburgs. This year, August 1 marked the day Trump informed Switzerland that he would impose a 39% tariff on Swiss exportsContinue reading “A New Swiss Battleground”
On the Road and Back Again
I’ve recently returned from twenty-six days in the US, where I joyfully descended on one friend after another in seven different parts of the country and was welcomed with food, entertainment, and wonderful talk. It was a glorious trip. By far the best part was the concentrated company of each dear friend I saw. OurContinue reading “On the Road and Back Again”
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, andContinue reading “A Discovery Award”
Newest Mystery Launched at Bern’s English Bookshop
Splintered Justice, the fourth of my Linder and Donatelli mysteries, was released in the US on April 15, and last night it was launched at the Stauffacher branch of Orell Füssli, Switzerland’s largest bookselling chain. Over 100 people were in the audience yesterday evening to hear Clare O’Dea, a novelist (Voting Day, Before the LeavesContinue reading “Newest Mystery Launched at Bern’s English Bookshop”
Thank You, Edward Jenner
In early February, I went to my doctor’s office for the first of two vaccinations against shingles—I’ll get the second one on April 16. I didn’t have to see the doctor for this; I made an appointment with her lab technician. Two weeks ago, I had a COVID-19 vaccination at the drugstore a few blocksContinue reading “Thank You, Edward Jenner”
SPLINTERED JUSTICE
I had more trouble finding a title for this fourth Linder and Donatelli mystery than for the others. Because the novel starts with an attempted murder in Bern’s largest Gothic church, the Berner Münster, I always thought of it as “the Münster book” and got stuck on that name. My research for this new bookContinue reading “SPLINTERED JUSTICE”
An 834-Year Wait
On the first day of January, Bern’s newly elected mayor stepped into her job. Her name is Marieke Kruit, and she is the first woman to be in charge of the city since the last Duke of Zähringer founded it in 1191, one hundred years before the Swiss Confederation came into being. Our new mayorContinue reading “An 834-Year Wait”
Kim Hays 