"The author is a lawyer who looks at the law and the people in it with equal parts of mirth and wisdom". A later appraisal comes from the 1973 "Catalogue of Crime" by Barzun and Taylor who called the book "Gilbert's masterwork". They noted that the motives are 'good', and the detection by Inspector Hazlerigg and an amateur assistant 'excellent'. The two murders they considered to be 'splendid'. In a 1984 review, George N Dove noted that "Smallbone Deceased" is widely considered to be Gilbert's most successful novel. It has, he said, an air of bright originality along with the characteristically plausible atmosphere of a solicitor's firm, dry whimsical wit, and a serene atmosphere that is shattered by a sensational murder. There is an especially strong playful portrayal of the English lawyer's talent for solemn pomposity. The book is important in Gilbert's development as a transition toward the police procedural novel, a form in which he would later excel. In the "Guardian's" 2006 obituary of the author, HRF Keating described the novel as "a classic of the genre ... rich with everyday details of a law practice, both good and naughty, dancing too with pawky humour; at the same time it sets a puzzle to please the most exigent of readers". The "Telegraph's" obituary also praised it as "one of his finest novels". The novel has regularly appeared in 'Top 100' lists. In 1987 Keating featured the novel among the 100 best crime and mystery books ever published, writing that the book "is in every way as good as those of Agatha Christie at her best: as neatly dovetailed, as inherently complex yet retaining a decent credibility, and as full of cunningly-suggested red herrings". In 1990 the book was included in the list of "The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time" published by the British-based Crime Writers' Association, and in 1995 the Mystery Writers of America included it in their "Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time". In "The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books" (2017) Martin Edwards wrote that Michael Gilbert had "exploited his knowledge of life in a solicitors’ practice to witty effect in one of the finest workplace-based detective novels". Edwards also wrote the introduction to the 2019 British Library reissue in which he said that the book "blends in masterly fashion an authentic setting, pleasingly differentiated characters, smoothly readable prose, and a clever puzzle".