Julian MacLaren-Ross enthusiastically reviewed the novel in the 20 April 1951 issue of "The Times Literary Supplement" when he said it was: "more of a thriller than a detective story, though there are plenty of mysteries and two surprises reserved for the closing chapters; one of these is perhaps her best since the unmasking of the criminal in "The Seven Dials Mystery"". He went on to comment on that, "the easy expertise of the writing is once more a matter for admiration" and concluded that Christie's powers of invention "never fail her".