Gladys Edson Locke  (1887-19??) spent much of her time in her book-lined study where she would write top selling mysteries. Gladys was born in Dorchester the only child of Carolyn Edson and Scott Locke. She lived at 15 Larchmont Street (1920 and 1930 census reports) and at 33 Grampian Way. Victor A. Berch reports that an incoming vessel the SS Scythia arrived at Boston from England in August, 1924, carrying Gladys and her mother Caroline, and they were listed as living at the Larchmont Street address.

Locke wrote stories from the time she was a child. She began with fairy tales at first and later wrote plays for a theater she made out of pasteboard with paper dolls for actors. Gladys graduated from Girls Latin School. She graduated from Boston University and earned a Master’s degree in English there. She attended Simmons College in Boston, where she earned a degree in library science. While in college she wrote a few historical stories, and a biography of Queen Elizabeth.

For six years she was a tutor in Latin and Italian and French, and later became a teacher of Latin and English in the Milford, N.H., High School.
In 1917 she became a cataloger in the main branch of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square where she worked for many decades.

She was an active Unitarian Universalist and was an active member of the First Parish Church in Dorchester and of the Republican Party. She also belonged to the Boston Society for Psychic research. 

She never married. She tried her hand at writing detective / mystery novels in the style of the English Country House Mystery. Locke was of English descent, loving England and feeling a close emotional and spiritual connection. The scenes of her books are often located in the British Isles, reflecting her frequent travels to England and Scotland. 

Bibliography 

That Affair At Portstead Manor (1914) 

The Red Cavalier (1922)

The Scarlet Macaw (1923)

The Purple Mist (1924)

The House of the Downs (1925)

The Grey Gables (1927)

The Golden Lotus (1927)

The Redmaynes (1928)

The Fenwood Murders (1931)

The Ravensdale Mystery (1935)