Richardson found the "doubly twisted" plot, to be "ingenious enough", but for him, "the quintessential zest, the sense of well-being which goes to make up that Christie feeling, is missing." Another reviewer was more pleased with the novel, saying that Poirot solves the mysteries "with all the acumen that has endeared him to Agatha Christie fans. Fantastic and topping." A review in 1990 was pleased to find a Christie novel tied distinctly to a specific year and world event, but had a more complex commentary on the novel as a whole, calling it a "Compulsive reworking of Tennysonian and Christiean themes, and pretty high up in the range of classic titles."