"Butter in a Lordly Dish" remains one of Christie's least-known works. The title comes from the Bible, at Judges, 5:25 – "He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish", where "he" refers to Sisera, "she" is Jael, and Jael kills Sisera by hammering a nail through his head. The same fate awaits Sir Luke Enderby in Christie's play at the hands of Julia Keene. Jack Malvern, of "The Times" called it "one of Agatha Christie’s most gruesome murder plots."