Mo Hayder is a British crime novelist, author of the novels Birdman, The Treatment and Tokyo (known in some countries as The Devil of Nanking). Hayder left school at fifteen, and has since worked as a barmaid, security-guard, filmmaker, hostess in a Tokyo club, and teacher of English as a foreign language. She was awarded an MA in film from American University and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, a course on which she now lectures.