Beatrice Clare Dunkel (born Clare Damaris Bastin;

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s, Mo Hayder and Theo Clare; 2 January 1962 – 27 July 2021) was a British author. Earlier in her life she worked as an actress and model under the name Candy Davis and appeared as Miss Belfridge in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

sitcom ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was created and written by David Croft (TV producer), David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. Croft also served as executive producer and television directo ...

'' She went on to write novels as Mo Hayder. She won an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

in 2012. Her novels have sold more than 6.5 million copies, as of 2021.

Early life

Born in Epping,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

on 2 January 1962, Hayder grew up in

Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...

as the daughter of John Bastin, an astrophysicist, and Susan Hollins (née Jacobsen), a teacher. She had a younger brother, Richard. She left school and home for London shortly before her 16th birthday. Hayder was educated at The American University and

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

Acting and modelling career

As Candy Davis, she won the Miss Nude beauty pageant in 1982 and became a

Page 3 Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature in Novembe ...

model. As an actress, her first credit was as a stripper in an episode of ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

''. She played secretary Miss Belfridge in the BBC sitcom ''

'' in the final two series from 1983 to 1985. She also appeared in the music video for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

song "

Poison Arrow "Poison Arrow" is a song by the English New Wave and pop band ABC, released as the second single from their debut studio album, '' The Lexicon of Love'' (1982). It reached #6 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it topped off at #24 ...

". After a brief marriage to Gary Olsen she emigrated at 25 to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

where she became a teacher of English as a foreign language in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. She was also a waitress at a nightclub and an amateur filmmaker.

Writing career

Hayder sent the manuscript of her first book to several agents. To her surprise she was accepted by leading literary agent Jane Gregory who secured her an offer of nearly £200,000 from

Transworld Publishers Transworld is a British publishing house in Ealing, London that is a division of Penguin Random House, one of the world's largest mass media groups. It was established in 1950 as the British division of American company Bantam Books. It publi ...

for a two-book deal. Patrick Janson-Smith of Transworld described the manuscript at the 1998 Frankfurt Book Fair as one of the most powerful and violent books he had come across, "a completely gripping story with believable characters". This debut novel, '' Birdman'', was published in December 1999 and was an international bestseller. Her second novel, '' The Treatment'', was a ''Sunday Times'' bestseller and won the 2002 WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award. Her third novel, ''

'', was published in May 2004 and was another ''Sunday Times'' bestseller. ''Tokyo'' was published as '' The Devil of Nanking'' in the United States in March 2005. '' Pig Island'' was her fourth best seller, published in April 2006. ''Pig Island'' was nominated for both a Barry Award for Best British crime novel, and a CWA dagger. Her fifth book, ''Ritual'' was the first in "The Walking Man" series, and was nominated for CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award. ''

Skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

'' is the second book in The Walking Man series, and was released in early 2009. ''Gone'', the third book in the series, was released in February 2011. ''Gone'' won the

for Best Novel. Her novel ''Hanging Hill'' was published 2011, ''Poppet'' in 2013, and ''Wolf'' in 2014. A television adaptation of

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

was made for the BBC in 2023. Her novels were controversial when published. ''Birdman'' was seen as violent and disturbing. Her second novel, ''The Treatment'' tackled themes of

paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

. The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' called the novel a "disturbing journey into the pedophile mind". Hayder also wrote the screenplay for ''De Behandeling'' (2014) which was a Belgian film adaptation of ''The Treatment''. Shortly before her death, she completed a new novel ''The Book of Sand,'' a speculative thriller written under the pseudonym Theo Clare, which was published in 2022.

Personal life

In 1985, she married actor Gary Olsen. The couple divorced in 1990. Hayder lived in Cheltenham, England with her second husband, Bob Randall, a retired police sergeant whom she married in 2021. She had one daughter. She died on 27 July 2021 from complications of

motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

, aged 59, having been diagnosed in December 2020.

Bibliography

Jack Caffery series

*'' Birdman'' (2000) *'' The Treatment'' (2001) *''Ritual'' (2008) *''

'' (2009) *'' Gone'' (2010) *''Poppet'' (2013) *''Wolf'' (2014)

Stand-alone novels

*''

'' (2004), also published as '' The Devil of Nanking'' (2010) *'' Pig Island'' (2006) *''Hanging Hill'' (2011) *''Bonehead'' (2024)

Writing as Theo Clare

*''The Book of Sand'' (2022)

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

Mo Hayder
at Gregory & Company Authors' Agents * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayder, Mo 1962 births 2021 deaths Writers from Essex 21st-century English novelists American University School of Communication alumni Alumni of Bath Spa University English crime fiction writers Edgar Award winners British women mystery writers 21st-century English women writers English women novelists Deaths from motor neuron disease in England 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century English actresses Actors from Loughton English television actresses English female models British glamour models Page 3 girls Models from Essex Actresses from Essex Actresses from Cheltenham Models from Gloucestershire Actors from Epping Actresses from London Models from London