Little criticism of" A Jury of Her Peers" dates from the time of its initial publication or from 1927 when it was collected with Glaspell's other stories in the collection A Jury of Her Peers. Only after the story gained acclaim during the 1970s did critical interest in it grow. However, theater reviews of Trifles. performed in 1916, one year before the publication of "A Jury of Her Peers," relate that critics found the performance to be the Province town Players' finest to date.

InSusan Glaspell: A Research and Production Sourcebook, Mary Papke lists six reviews of the play, only one of which did not enthusiastically recommend it. Early critiques from the New York Dramatic Mirror gave it high praise as a drama of mystery and suspense and Theatre Magazine found the female actors in their interpretation of women's intuition ingenious. On the other hand, the New...