Beatrice Clare Dunkel (born Clare Damaris Bastin; pen names, 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. She went on to write novels as Mo Hayder. One forthcoming book, The Book of Sand, will be published in 2022 under the name Theo Clare. She won an Edgar Award in 2012. Her best-known work was Birdman, which was followed by a sequel, The Treatment. Early life Born in Essex on 2 January 1962, Hayder grew up in Loughton as the daughter of John Bastin, an astrophysicist, and Susan Hollins, 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. Acting and modelling career As Candy Davis, she won the Miss Nude beauty pageant in 1982 and became a Page 3 model. As an actress, her first credit was as a stripper in an episode of Minder although her best known role was playing secretary Miss Belfridge in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? in the final two series from 1983 to 1985. She also appeared in the music video for the ABC song "Poison Arrow". After (in her own words) "a wild child phase" and a brief marriage to Gary Olsen she emigrated at 25 to Japan where she became a teacher of English as a foreign language in Tokyo. 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 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, Tokyo, was published in May 2004 and was another Sunday Times bestseller. Tokyo was published as The Devil of Nanking in the United