Queensbury Sunday Edition Special Feature
By-line by Molly Malone
A Day in the Life: Sheriff Denny DeWalt of Blue Lake
May 14, Blue Lake Village. As part of our ongoing series of behind-the-scenes looks at the comings and goings of local figures of note around and about the Adirondacks, we recently spent the day with Sheriff Denny DeWalt of Blue Lake Village. You may recognize his name from a few high-profile murder cases that have hit Blue Lake since he stepped in as sheriff last summer.
We met up with Denny for the start of our day together at Cal’s Country Kitchen on Delaware Avenue, the main strip of Blue Lake Village. “May is still off season here,” he told me as we sat down at his usual early morning booth and put in our coffee orders. “But you wouldn’t know it from the bustle at Cal’s. I usually start my day here. If there’s any overnight news worth hearing, this is the place to hear it.” Cal’s was recently selected as the location for an upcoming edition of the popular RoosterTV streaming show Country Cook-Off, with an episode to be filmed here at Cal’s in June, and that’s generating plenty of breakfast conversation buzz among the Blue Lake locals.
I opted for a spinach omelette and Denny went for scrambled eggs and toast (his regular order according to Cal, who stopped by the table to say he was getting reports of a stray sailboat loose from the dock at Morgan’s Marina and floating towards Claremont on the east side of the lake). “See,” said Denny, “already my first rescue mission of the day.” As we ate, a few others stopped by to say hello and report on problems that needed solving. I can confirm that Denny is a good listener to people’s concerns and complaints, and by the time we paid the check, he had a morning agenda all mapped out. “Unless and until a real emergency arises,” he said as he picked up the check. “Every day is different.”
Our next stop was the Blue Lake Police Department, where we met with Deputy Lance Moran. The two compared to-do lists and split up the morning workload. Denny put in a few calls to Albany and Saratoga, then did a short interview with hosts Julie and Lance from the network morning show America This Morning on tips to keep your pets safe.
“How often does he do that?” I asked Lance as we watched from the doorway.
“More than you’d think. They just seem to like to talk to him on the air. Last week it was self-defense classes for seniors. He’s gotten much better at it.”
“There are two versions of Blue Lake Village,” Denny told me as we got back in the patrol car. “The summer version and a sleepy version. Some of the locals can’t wait for summer, but they’re usually the same ones who can’t wait for it to end. I can see the pros and cons of both.” As he spoke, he pulled the patrol car over and jumped out to assist a distressed older woman trying to cross the busy intersection of Delaware Avenue and John Adams Street.
“I didn’t even notice her,” I said.
“That’s Brenda. She’s afraid of walking in traffic, but also afraid of driving in traffic. Quite a dilemma. ‘Protect and serve’ requires a lot of hats in this village. Now let’s go rescue that sailboat.”
Murder Sundae, A Blue Lake Cozy Murder Mystery Book #4
Genre: Cozy
Release: February 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Former NYPD forensics expert Celia Strong and her daughter Katie have settled into a new life in Blue Lake Village, where Celia owns Ye Olde Ice Cream Shoppe.
This year, historic Hope Chapel is throwing a celebration for its 150th anniversary. As the big event nears, Celia is asked to solve a century-old mystery—the wedding day death of a ‘lost generation’ socialite, whose body is found missing from her casket in the nearby cemetery. Meanwhile, a world-renowned string quartet is scheduled to perform at the chapel’s anniversary fête.
But murder is never far behind.
One of the musicians is dead before the performance is over. Who would want to kill him and why? And what happened to the missing 1920s socialite?
With Sheriff Denny DeWalt away, it’s up to Celia and her friends help Deputy Sheriff Lance Moran solve the mysteries as murder returns to Blue Lake.
Meet the author
Hadley K. Knox is the author of the Blue Lake Cozy Mysteries. Hadley is obsessed with mysteries of all kinds, from Agatha Christie to Ian Fleming, and pairs this with a love of small-town mountain and lake life. She divides her time between the Adirondacks and London, England, where she resides part of the year with her two elderly dogs.
All comments are welcomed.