One of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Esmé.

What is your full name?
Esmé de LaForet is the name you see on the theatre marquee, and on the programs for my play. My middle name is Rafferty, a nod to my late mother’s Irish American roots.

How old are you?
Twenty-five years old this year (1934).

What is your profession?
I am a playwright who finally made it to Broadway! My chance came when a terrible play called “Afternoon Tea with Nigel” closed and left an open six-week slot at the theatre where I work. I was able to jump on the chance to have my play produced because I read playscripts at the Washington Irving Theatre for the producer, Sal Rossi. Before that, I was a newspaper reporter, so I’ve always been a writer.

Do you have a significant other?
Yes, I am quite unexpectedly engaged to an Englishman who became a U.S. citizen.

What is their name and profession?
My intended is Graydon Chase, and he’s a private inquiry agent, in other words, a private detective. But you might think he’s also a professional playboy the way the Manhattan post-debs run after him. Graydon is also rich, very rich, and he says he helps run his family businesses in the U.S. I was horrified when I learned about the money. I tried to break up with him, but that didn’t quite take.

Do you have any children?
Certainly not yet! (I’m single.) But maybe someday.

Who is your best friend?
I could say Graydon, but I could also say Reggie Pendleton, a New York Post reporter who showed me the ropes when I first got to New York. We worked together as fellow scribes. However, now we seem to be on different sides of certain stories, and I hope we can keep our friendship. He seems to think I am a story.

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
No. I simply don’t have the time.

What town do you live in?
I live in Manhattan on the beautiful Upper West Side.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I own a beautiful apartment, which I was able to purchase when I cashed in my inheritance and moved East from out West. It’s difficult for women to buy their own property, if they aren’t married or widowed. However, the previous owner lost everything in the Depression, and he didn’t ask questions when I offered cash.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
It changes depending on the season and day. My bedroom faces the fireplace through glass doors, and it has a wonderful mural across the wall and ceiling that was painted by our theatre’s set designer. I like to imagine I’m sleeping in a field of flowers.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
Being from out West, ranching country, I always love a good steak, and as the daughter of a French emigree, a fine French restaurant. My father ensured we always had wine, even during Prohibition. (He smuggled it in from Mexico.)

Do you have any hobbies?
Writing has always been my vocation and my avocation. I don’t think you can call plays my hobby, but I have a few relatives who might. Right now, I’m pretty busy with my plays and with helping Graydon with investigations.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
The Depression is still raging across the country and a lot of folks don’t have any idea what a vacation would be. I haven’t exactly taken vacations up till now. My parents ran a general store where I worked since I was 12. When I make enough money, I’d like to find out about vacations and travel to Europe.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
Hearing people laugh and applaud my plays when everything is going well is simply the pinnacle of a fun time for me, the absolute sun-pouring-down-like-honey moment. But I also love dressing up like a “swell,” and “putting on the Ritz” is right up there. Along with heading to Sardi’s to wait for the reviews when the play is a hit, is also wonderful. When the play isn’t well received, that’s the opposite of fun.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
My current play is called Leaving Alamogordo, which is both a concept and a metaphor. I think I’d call my memoir Leaving Alamogordo.

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Graydon is a detective and I sometimes find myself working with him. So if I’m not a true textbook detective, I was a reporter, and I am professional-sleuth-adjacent. I’ve also been known to work with Detective O’Hara of the N.Y.P.D., who has suggested I join the force. I’m not sure he was serious.

What is a typical day in your life like?
A typical day? Not too many of those. I usually arrive at the Washington Irving Theatre between 10 and 11 a.m., where I am greeted with a stack of playscripts by hopeful playwrights. I read as much as I can, write my reports and the theatre’s rejections to the authors. Acceptances are few and far between, but I try to be kind, because these writers are painfully eager. I know because I was just as eager as they are. I often stay late into the night and watch rehearsals and work on my own plays. But there are other days when things dangerous happen, gunshots ring out, bootleggers die, and other mobsters look for new professions. And now most days, I look forward to being with Graydon.

THESE CROOKED THINGS – An “Art Deco” Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Historical Mystery
Release: December 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

A corpse, a coverup, and a grievously injured pregnant woman lead a playwright and a playboy detective down a crooked path to a secret society, a long-ago death, and three potential killers of a very rich bad boy.

It’s November 1934. Post-Prohibition lingers like a hangover in New York City as famous gangsters fight for headlines with local criminals, Broadway shows, and society sinners.

Amid the glitz and glamour, a man lies dead on the floor of a swanky Upper East Side apartment as his injured pregnant wife hides nearby. Private detective Graydon Chase and his new fiancé, playwright Esmé de LaForet, are called in by the family to keep the scandal at bay. But there’s no keeping this crime quiet, as playwright and playboy pursue a crooked path to untangle multiple would-be killers, with more than enough motives to go around.

Complications abound when Graydon’s aristocratic English parents invite themselves to Esmé’s place for that most American holiday—Thanksgiving. Over the turkey and stuffing, Graydon’s oh-so-upper-crust father itches to involve himself in the investigation (despite his prejudice against his son’s fiancé as a “woman of the theatre”), and a local mobster trying to go legit wades into the thick of it, bringing vital information on the murder. Will it arrive in time to keep our detecting duo safe from a gunman’s bullet? And which gunman is the real danger?

About the author
Mystery and thriller writer Ellen Byerrum is also a playwright and a former Washington, D.C., reporter. The author of the Lacey Smithsonian Crime of Fashion Mysteries, she is enjoying her new Art Deco Mystery series, the most recent of which is These Crooked Things. Byerrum has also penned a thriller, a middle grade mystery, and a children’s picture book. Two of her plays, written as Eliot Byerrum, were published by Samuel French and are available through Concord Theatricals.