Crime fiction fans will be making a beeline for Watford Central Library next Tuesday as bestselling thriller writer Mo Hayder pops in to chat about her new novel Skin, the fourth book of The Walking Man series, featuring Detective Inspector Jack Caffery.

Mo is coming to Watford as part of a select tour which sees her in conversation with police diver, Sergeant Bob Randall, whose work running an underwater search team inspired her to write the series.

After leaving school at 15, Mo worked as a barmaid, security guard, film-maker, hostess in a Tokyo club, educational administrator and teacher of English as a foreign language in Asia. She has an MA in film from The American University in Washington DC and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University UK. Her debut, Birdman, published in January 2000, was an international bestseller. Her next three novels, The Treatment, Tokyo and Pig Island, were all Sunday Times bestsellers.

Mo admits her career as a writer came about in a roundabout fashion, but she has no regrets about her life experiences.

“I’ve tried lots and lots of different things,” says Mo. “At the time it felt as though I was drifting and I was frustrated by that but in retrospect, it’s the best training any writer could have had.

“There isn’t a tried and tested path.”

Living in Bath, Mo found inspiration from her surroundings and in nearby Bristol in particular, where the series is set.

“I wanted a diver in the story to reflect the seafaring tradition of the city. I even learned to dive for research.

“The idea for the series began when I was speaking to the local police about where people had fallen into underground chambers that nobody knows about, which had once held Napoloenic prisoners of war.”

Hear more about Mo’s writing at Watford Central Library, Hempstead Road, Watford on Tuesday, March 24, 12.30pm to 2pm. Tickets: (£3) 01923 471333, www.hertsdirect.org/libraries