Mo Hayder left school at fifteen, and worked variously as a barmaid, security guard, film-maker, teacher of English as a foreign language in Asia, and - most pertinently to her new novel, Tokyo - as a hostess in a Tokyo club in the late 1980s. One night one of the other hostesses was raped and subjected to a brutal attack. "I was profoundly shocked. I was working 80 hour weeks, had almost no friends and was reading far too much Mishima, so I was ripe for being disturbed. I found myself obsessing about what the rapist had been thinking - why he had done it, what was in it for him."

Mo returned to Tokyo in early 2003 pursuing further background research for her novel. She wanted primarily to remind herself of the atmosphere of a hostess club, but she was also interested in the tragic murder of Lucie Blackman. Mo recalled Tokyo of the late 1980s as a safe place to live and work, so, in order to get a clearer sense of what had changed in the intervening fourteen years, she spent some time working in the central Tokyo nightclub where Lucie had been employed at the time of her disappearance.

Her debut novel, Birdman was an instant bestseller when published in January 2000, and garnered wide critical acclaim. It was followed by The Treatment which won the 2001 W H Smith Thumping Good Read Award. Tokyo, a literary thriller of the highest order, was shortlisted for the 2004 Gold Dagger by the Crime Writer's Association.

Her peers have been unanimous in their praise for Tokyo. Karin Slaughter called it "the epic thriller of the year"; Val McDermid: "stylish and scary"; Harlan Coben: "haunting, lyrical, disturbing, important, suspenseful, wonderfully written and beautiful"; Tess Gerritsen: "writing of breathtaking power and poetry. I stand in awe"; Michael Connelly: "deeply felt and haunting" and, last but not least, Minette Walters: "a real page-turner, full of suspense, with a terrifying, gritty edge that turns the blood cold.