In the novel, Violet and Klaus Baudelaire make their way up the Mortmain Mountains to rescue their sister Sunny from Count Olaf and his troupe.

They meet Quigley Quagmire, a character who they thought to be dead, and visit the headquarters of a mysterious organization called "V.F.D."

From materials in the caravan, Violet frantically constructs a drag chute and instructs Klaus to mix together sticky foodstuffs, which he pours on the tires.

He calls it a "Vertical Flame Diversion" and at the end they reach a "Vernacularly Fastened Door", which allows the trio through once they solve three literary questions.

The Snow Scout is Quigley, the Quagmire triplet whose siblings thought he perished in the fire that killed their parents.

As Olaf and Esmé argue, the Snow Scout troupe arrive and Carmelita is crowned False Spring Queen.

The last picture of The Slippery Slope shows Violet, wearing a poncho, and Sunny on a wooden raft, floating down the Stricken Stream.

In a reference to the Medusoid mycelium, the fungus featured in The Grim Grotto, one can see mushrooms growing on the cliffs of the Mortmain Mountains.

[2] As promotion, Handler appeared at book signings in New Jersey, California, Washington and Minnesota under the guise of being author Lemony Snicket's "official representative".

[6] Stephanie Zvirin of Booklist gave The Slippery Slope a positive review, saying that the author "hasn't lost his sense of the absurd or his momentum".

Zvirin complimented the "joyful wordplay and the quirky imaginative touches", describing the characters as "true to form, ridiculous and fun" and noting that Snicket's "wry telling is pitch-perfect".

[12] David Abrams of January Magazine gave the book a positive review, saying "the delight in The Slippery Slope and others in this series is found in the way the author jauntily jots his jokes across the page.

"[13] Norah Piehl from Kidsreads wrote that the book "has all of the tongue-in-cheek wit that makes the series enjoyable for kids and adults alike", and that "Snicket really outdoes himself".