From the original review in the Toledo Blade, 11 December 1949: "No locked room mystery this, but still one of the best featuring Gideon Fell. An old lady dies of poison and while her late companion, the accused, languishes in prison awaiting trial, her niece's husband likewise sips of the fatal cup. The leading character in the book is the trial lawyer, who, despite his conceit, courage and ability would not have solved the mysteries without old Gideon's deductions from a silver candelabrum and a red garter. "