cover image Kissing Babies at the Piggly Wiggly

Kissing Babies at the Piggly Wiggly

Robert Dalby, . . Putnam, $22.95 (273pp) ISBN 978-0-399-15428-7

Dalby's sequel to Waltzing at the Piggly Wiggly revisits the offbeat Mississippi Delta town of Second Creek, where mayor Floyce Hammontree, once the “new blood” the town needed and now a corrupt manipulator, is outraged that Choppy Dunbar, the “seventyish” former owner of the local Piggly Wiggly and a novice to “the down and dirty business of local politics,” is running against him in the upcoming mayoral race. Working to help Mr. Choppy's campaign are newlyweds Powell and Laurie Hampton and the Nitwitts (wealthy widows with social standing and influence). Although charming and energetic, this polite band of earnest do-gooders faces a formidable battle against the slick Floyce, who still has some favors to call in. Meanwhile, Mr. Choppy's long-lost love reappears at a critical moment, and he is determined to keep her. On election night, unusually stormy weather delays the announcement of the winner, which should be no surprise. Dalby brings the story neatly together, but the novel's pacing suffers from the drawn-out and overly cute conversations, which turn the characters into caricatures. Dalby lays on thick the cartoonish Southern quirkiness. (Aug.)