Max Carrados is a fictional blind detective in a series of mystery stories and books by

Ernest Bramah Ernest Bramah (20 March 186827 June 1942), the pseudonym of Ernest Brammah Smith, who was an English author. He published 21 books and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works were often ranked with Jerome K. Jerome and W. W. Jac ...

, first published in 1914.

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

wrote that, together with those of Doyle and

R. Austin Freeman Dr. Richard Austin Freeman (11 April 1862 – 28 September 1943) was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke. He invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in wh ...

, ''Max Carrados'' and ''The Eyes of Max Carrados'' "are the only detective stories since

Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widel ...

that are worth re-reading."

Characters

The characters and identities of Max Carrados and his usual accomplice Mr Carlyle are explained in the first story, "The Coin of Dionysius". Mr Carlyle is a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

, running a private inquiry agency concerned mainly with

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

and

defalcation Defalcation is misappropriation of funds by a person trusted with their charge; also, the act of misappropriation, or an instance thereof. The term is more specifically used by the United States Bankruptcy Code to describe a category of acts that t ...

. He is directed to the home of Wynn Carrados at The Turrets,

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...

, for an expert opinion on a tetradrachm of Dionysius the Elder of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

which he believes may be a

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

substituted into a famous collection in the course of a theft. At their meeting, the blind Carrados immediately recognises Mr Carlyle (from his voice) as his former schoolfriend (at St Michael's), Louis Calling. Carlyle then recognizes him in turn as Max Wynn ("Winning" Wynn). Max explains that he was made financially independent by a rich American cousin who left him a fortune won by doctoring his crop reports, on condition that he adopt the surname Carrados. He was blinded some twelve years before the first story, as a result of a minor incident while out horse-riding with a friend. His friend, who was leading, brushed past a twig which flicked back and caught Max in the eye. From this he was blinded by the illness called

amaurosis Amaurosis (Greek meaning ''darkening'', ''dark'', or ''obscure'') is vision loss or weakness that occurs without an apparent lesion affecting the eye. It may result from either a medical condition or excess acceleration, as in flight. The term is t ...

. Carrados makes use of his remaining senses in such a way that his blindness is often not immediately apparent to others. A wealthy, cultured and urbane man, he is an expert numismatist with a large private collection of bronzes, and is a specialist in forgeries. Carrados can read print by finger-touch, uses a

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

and smokes the most desirable and unobtainable cigars. He has a trusted (sighted) manservant named Parkinson (who is trained to be highly observant but without placing his own interpretations on what he observes) and also a secretary, Mr Greatorex. Carlyle was formerly a solicitor, who was struck off for his supposed involvement with the falsifying of a trust account. After this scandal he changed his name and set up the inquiry agency, which is fronted by an ex-

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

policeman. Carrados enjoys the ''éclat'' of revealing his explanations of mysteries through powers of

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...

, which ought to be at the disposal of any sighted person, but which in his case are heightened in positive compensation for his visual impairment. The problem of the forged coin (his first 'case'), including the names of the collector, the forger and the thief, and the method, is explained to Carlyle without Carrados ever leaving his study. In subsequent cases, however, Carrados is active, adventurous and even intrepid in tracking down his quarry. Given the somewhat unusual idea that a blind man could be a detective, Bramah took pains to compare his hero's achievements to those of real life blind people such as Nicholas Saunderson, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge,

Blind Jack John Metcalf (15 August 1717 – 26 April 1810), known as Blind Jack of Knaresborough or Blind Jack Metcalf, was the first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution. Blind from the age of six, Metcalf had an event ...

of Knaresborough the road builder,

John Fielding Sir John Fielding (16 September 1721 – 4 September 1780) was a notable English magistrate and social reformer of the 18th century. He was also the younger half-brother of novelist, playwright and chief magistrate Henry Fielding. Despite bein ...

the Bow Street Magistrate, of whom it was said he could identify 3,000 thieves by their voices, and Helen Keller.

Canon

As published in book form, the series comprises: *''Max Carrados'' (Methuen & Co, London 1914)

* The Coin of Dionysius * The Knight's Cross Signal Problem * The Tragedy at Brookbend Cottage * The Clever Mrs. Straithwaite * The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor * The Tilling Shaw Mystery * The Comedy at Fountain Cottage * The Game Played in the Dark

*''The Eyes of Max Carrados'' (Grant Richards, London 1923)

* The Virginiola Fraud * The Disappearance of Marie Severe * The Secret of Dunstan's Tower * The Mystery of the Poisoned Dish of Mushrooms * The Ghost of Massingham Mansions * The Missing Actress Sensation * The Ingenious Mr. Spinola * The Kingsmouth Spy Case * The Eastern Mystery

*''The Specimen Case (Hodder and Stoughton, London 1924)''

* The Bunch of Violets

*''Max Carrados Mysteries'' (Hodder and Stoughton, London 1927)

* The Secret of Headlam Height * The Mystery of the Vanished Petition Crown * The Holloway Flat Tragedy * The Curious Circumstances of the Two Left Shoes * The Ingenious Mind of Mr. Rigby Lacksome * The Crime at the House in Culver Street * The Strange Case of Cyril Bycourt * The Missing Witness Sensation

*''

The Bravo of London ''The Bravo of London'' is a 1934 mystery thriller novel by the British writer Ernest Bramah. It featured his most celebrated character the blind detective Max Carrados. It was the first and only full-length novel to feature Carrados, who usually ...

'' (a novel) (Cassell & Co, London 1934) A selection of stories from the earlier volumes were later gathered into ''Best Max Carrados Detective Stories'' (1972).

TV and radio adaptations

Carrados is portrayed by

Robert Stephens Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was a leading English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. He was one of the most respected actors of his generation and was at one time regarded as the natur ...

in a 50-minute adaptation of "The Missing Witness Sensation," an episode of the 1971 TV series '' The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes''. In the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

series ''Thriller Playhouse'', Max Carrados is played by Simon Callow. Arthur Darvill narrated a series of Max Carrados stories for

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

in 2011. *''The Coin of Dionysius'' *''The Knight's Cross Signal Problem'' *''The Tragedy at Brookbend Cottage'' *''The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor'' *''A Game Played in the Dark'' Max Carrados appeared in three episodes of the

series ''The Rivals'': in the Series Two story "The Game Played in the Dark" (where he was played by Charles Edwards), the Series Three story "The Knight's Cross Signal Problem" and the Season Four episode "The Secret of Dunstan's Tower" (in both of which he was played by

Pip Torrens Philip D'Oyly "Pip" Torrens (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor. Known for playing urbane, authoritative figures, Torrens portrayed courtier Tommy Lascelles in the Netflix drama ''The Crown'', aristocrat Lord Massen in the HBO series ''The ...

). Max Carrados appeared on American radio in the 1942 series called '' Murder Clinic'' from WOR and the Mutual Broadcasting System. A single episode entitled "The Holloway Flat Tragedy" from August 18, 1942, featured British actor Alfred Shirley as the blind detective. Stephen Fry narrated a series of Max Carrados stories for Audible.TheBookseller.com
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References

Bibliography

* Greene, Hugh. ''The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: Early Detective Stories'' (1970; Penguin 1971): Introduction. * Wilson, Aubrey. ''The Search for Ernest Bramah'' (Creighton and Read 2007)

External links

Max Carrados stories
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

*
Crime and Chinoiserie (Article by David Langford originally published in ''Million'' magazine (crossover issue with ''Interzone 51''), 1991: includes commentary on Max Carrados)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrados, Max Literary characters introduced in 1914 Fictional private investigators Fictional blind characters