R. S. Maxwell is the impenetrable mystery-writing pseudonym of independent author and scholar Susan Maxwell, who also writes literary/slipstream and fantasy fiction. She has published five novels and a collection of short stories, and her work has appeared in magazines and anthologies. She has worked as a professional archivist in Ireland, the UK, and the Netherlands, holds a PhD for her research on archives and the margins, and writes non-fiction on themes related to archives and literature. Maxwell is a regular juror for the British Fantasy Awards and reviewer for the BSFA Review and Inis, the magazine of Children's Books Ireland. Literary influences come mostly from speculative and modernist fiction.
When not writing, or painting, or being an archivist, the author can be found in the vegetable patch, listening to music, reading books, watching old detective series, or catching up on sleep.