Slitherings in Sleaufort introduces the reader to Bixie Lee Biddle. She was living a boring life, with a boring job, in a boring town-with no expectation of things changing. Plod, plod one foot in front of the other, day by day until, well until....
Then she received a letter from a Sleaufort lawyer telling her that she had inherited a house from her aunt. The aunt lived in Sleaufort-a town with endless sunshine and a nearby beach. So fun!
In a blink of an eye, Bixie had packed for the trip, stored all the excess stuff, sublet her apartment and quit her job at the medical research facility. She was gone. She knew that she could get a county job in Sleaufort, because her brother was important in local politics.
She was so wrong. The tides had changed and her brother' party was out of favor. She did get a job with the county-custodian at the courthouse. So special. The job included toilet cleaning, scraping off bird poop from the courthouse steps, swabbing up floods on the floors from the drink machine malfunctioning. Also, the courthouse was very busy because of the pig farm controversy.
Bixie slowly adapted to her new job duties. Friendships grew, and there was always friction with the county managers. However, much of the time they were engrossed in their grownup hobbies of mail-order porno and afternoon massages.
The courthouse has many interesting people, with many interesting secrets. Bixie, being a thorough cleaner, read the trash in the cans to keep herself informed. So many marital flummoxes-should the husband break up with the stripper girlfriend, should the single woman ask for child support or hold out for the more lucrative blackmail option?
Bixie was instrumental in uncovering the embezzling by the courthouse head, Miss Thomas. No good deed goes unrewarded. After Miss Thomas "left", Bixie was given the additional housekeeping chores of cleaning all of Miss Thomas' property. Some surprises were found; there was a mummified dog in the closet and all kinds of Thomas relatives appeared.
However, not everything was work, work. Bixie made connections with several hunky men who were around. There was a yummy Spanish teacher, gone before his time, cooked in a tanning bed, and another guy bit the dust, but he was too skanky for Bixie, but he had his following. One of the girls was the barely legal neighbor of Bixie. He was greatly mourned.
There was always light-hearted entertainment among the courthouse folks. Dick Dave (with breeches hanging low) and Dolly Thorne (reeking of rose perfume) were forever lovers, until they weren't. The temps added their own flair of drama, The policeman, one who never bathed, one who took a pig to the prom, and the third who did all the work were always up to something. Of course, Jade, owner of a marital aide shop, was Bixie's go to best friend.
And the calories available. Fats fried in grease and then coated with sugar and maple syrup. Calorie count was 34.
Life would have been almost perfect, except for two things: the dead bodies and the reasons they were dead. We all know if we find one roach, there are more in the woodwork. So the appearance of more Thomases, not a good sign.
The adventures of Bixie continue in the next 7 books and the good news is, as of now, Bixie is still alive.
