Max Carrados

Max Carrados is a fictional blind detective in a series of mystery stories and books by Ernest Bramah, beginning in 1914. The Max Carrados stories appeared alongside Sherlock Holmes in the Strand Magazine, in which they often had top billing, and frequently outsold his eminent contemporary at the time, even if they failed to achieve the longevity of Holmes.

Characters

The characters and identities of Max Carrados and his usual accomplice Mr Carlyle are explained in the first story, 'The Coin of Dionysius'.^[1] Mr Carlyle is a private investigator, running a private inquiry agency concerned mainly with divorce and defalcation. He is directed to the home of Wynn Carrados at 'The Turrets', Richmond, London, for an expert opinion on a tetradrachm of Dionysius the Elder of Sicily which he believes may be a forgery 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' Winn).

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.

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 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 policeman.

Carrados enjoys the éclat of revealing his explanations of mysteries through powers of perception, 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 outlandish idea that a blind man could be a detective, Bramah^[2] 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 of Knaresborough the road builder, John Fielding 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 consists of:

• Max Carrados (Methuen & Co, London 1914)
• The Eyes of Max Carrados (Grant Richards, London 1923)
• Max Carrados Mysteries (Hodder and Stoughton, London 1927) and
• The Bravo of London (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 in a 50-minute adaptation of "The Missing Witness Sensation," an episode of the 1971 TV series The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes.^[3]

In the BBC Radio 4 series Thriller Playhouse, Max Carrados is played by Simon Callow.

Arthur Darvill narrated a series of Max Carrados stories for BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2011.

References

1. ^ Max Carrados (Methuen & Co, London 1914): see external link.
2. ^ The Eyes of Max Carrados (Grant Richards, London 1923), Introduction.
3. ^ BFI.org.uk

Sources

• Hugh Greene, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: Early Detective Stories (1970; Penguin 1971): Introduction.
• Aubrey Wilson, The Search for Ernest Bramah (Creighton and Read 2007) ISBN 0955375304

External links

• Four Max Carrados Stories at Project Gutenberg
• Crime and Chinoiserie (Article by David Langford originally published in Million magazine (crossover issue with Interzone 51), 1991: includes commentary on Max Carrados)