Max Carrados

Max Carrados #1

by Ernest Bramah

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. -wikipedia

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime, Classics, Detective, Disability

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Bramah was a reclusive soul, who shared few details of his private life with his reading public. His full name was Ernest Bramah Smith. It is known that he dropped out of Manchester Grammar School at the age of 16, after displaying poor aptitude as a student and thereafter went into farming, and began writing vignettes for the local newspaper. Bramah's father was a wealthy man who rose from factory hand to a very wealthy man in a short time, and who supported his son in his various career attempts.

Bramah went to Fleet Street after the farming failure and became a secretary to Jerome K. Jerome, rising to a position as editor of one of Jerome's magazines. At some point, he appears to have married Mattie.

More importantly, after being rejected by 8 publishers, the Wallet of Kai Lung was published in 1900, and to date, remains in print. Bramah wrote in different areas, including political science fiction, and mystery. He died at the age of 74. See http://www.ernestbramah.com for more information.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume collects the first eight adventures of Ernest Bramah's titular blind detective and jolly entertaining they are too.

The stories collected are:

1. The Coin of Dionysus
2. The Knight’s Cross Signal Problem
3. The Tragedy at Brookbend Cottage
4. The Clever Mrs. Straithwaite
5. The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor
6. The Tilling Shaw Mystery
7. The Comedy at Fountain Cottage
8. The Game Played in the Dark

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third and final collection of Max Carrados short stories. There is one more Carrados adventure to go but that's a full length novel (which I'll be tackling next).

For the uninitiated, Max Carrados is a blind amateur sleuth who is often called upon by the police (and occasionally the military) as a consultant. He is ably assisted by a small cast of characters, the standout being his world-weary butler, Parkinson. Carrados' cases occasionally deal with the paranormal but are mostly of a more Holmesian variety. They are always highly entertaining and perfect for dipping in and out of.

Highly recommended for fans of period detective fiction.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories featuring the blind amateur detective Max Carrados. I first came across him in an anthology featuring 'rival 'detectives to Sherlock Holmes.
The stories are a bit repetitive and all end very abruptly . I found them mildly interesting.

[Lydia Willcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a short Max Carrados story some years ago in a mystery story collection, and was extremely intrigued by it. So I was eager to read a full collection. Admittedly not all in this collection were as good as A Bunch of Violets, the one I had read. Some of them were confusing, over complex, and quite honestly I never understood them fully. Others were not so great, with some questionable actions coming up. But others were amazing. I'm not going to review them individually, but just know I do not recommend each story in the collection. As a whole, however, I liked it a lot. I loved Max's dry humour and quick-thinking genius. I loved Louis, too. Certainly not rivals for Holmes and Watson in my opinion, and certainly the storylines and mysteries aren't even comparable, but if you don't look at it in that light, it's overall a great collection. The premise is my favourite part of it - blind detective who still manages to solve the mysteries faster than the police, or his poor friend Louis, can. That certainly was what kept me reading even when I had no idea what was going on.
If I reread the collection, I'll give each story a review. I do plan to read the other collections, and I would recommend certain stories for sure.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Entertaining, well-written Edwardian-era detective short stories. The main characters aren't too deeply developed, and occasionally a story ends abruptly enough to leave you wondering what became of some of the participants after all, but if you enjoy this style of classic mystery they're very pleasant reading. ("The Clever Mrs. Straithwaite" gets points for making me spend five minutes after finishing it going over the complex plot again in my head, trying to figure out exactly what had happened.)

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The thing is very simple.” “They always are—when you know.”

Century old tales of a blind detective. Well done but dated. Compares favorably with later detective novels.

“In order to have an accurate knowledge of what a man will do on any occasion it is only necessary to study a single characteristic action of his.”

Carrados solves crimes by preternaturally-developed senses other than vision as well as help from others and incredible luck.

“The greater the confidence the greater the risk.”

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Serious Competitor with Holmes?

At the time when Ernest Bramah’s stories about the blind detective Max Carrados appeared in the renowned “Strand Magazine” alongside those about the famous inhabitant of 221B Baker Street, Carrados’s adventures sometimes indeed outsold those of the world’s most well-known detective, but I must confess that after reading Max Carrados, the first of three short story collections, I was able to understand why the fame of Max Carrados waned while that of Sherlock Holmes still reigns supreme today. Maybe, I just expected too much because the idea of a blind detective intrigued me, and somehow the name Carrados sounded very exotic and mysterious.

Max Carrados was published in 1914 and includes eight short stories, in the first of which we learn how Carrados and his sidekick Louis Carlyle, a private investigator, meet and recognize each other as former schoolmates. Carrados has not always been blind but lost his eyesight after a riding accident, and instead of resigning himself to what could have been a life in solitude and bitterness, he regarded the loss of his eyesight as an opportunity to train his remaining senses and use his manservant Parkinson for his eyes, since this man is very skilled at just putting his observations into words without interpreting them. Unfortunately, Bramah exaggerates Carrados’s faculties more often than not, e.g. we learn that this remarkable man is even able to read normal books and newpapers – as long as the type size is not too small – by just running his fingertips over the paper and sensing the different surfaces of white space and print. But then, even Holmes’s skills do not always ring completely true, and when reading detective fiction, one may well be in for stretching a point now and then.

Nevertheless, I felt I had to stretch too many points while reading these stories, for instance when a bank robbery mystery suddenly turned into a very silly farce, or when – as happens quite often – we were not given all the clues as to how Carrados arrives at his conclusions and simply have to accept them for what they are. This left me thinking that either Bramah must have considered his readers to be very clever people, who need no extra-hints, or that he just had no idea himself of how his protagonist arrived at his inferences, and it spoilt a lot of the fun for me. I have hardly ever caught Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at sleights of hand of that ilk.

At the same time, some of the stories were actually quite good, namely the last, which reminded me of the 1967 thriller “Wait Until Dark” starring Audrey Hepburn, but especially the tales “The Knight’s Cross Signal Problem” and “The Tragedy of Brookbend Cottage”. The latter is about a young man who suspects that his shifty brother-in-law is intent on killing his wife, and it leaves us with a rather shocking, but psychologically believable ending, whereas the former is a story that has become somehow more topical again, and also has one of the finest lines in the whole collection, namely

”’Oh, of course I’m not really in favour of hanging,’ admitted Mr Carlyle.

‘Nobody really is. But we go on hanging. […]’”

All in all, I have read more riveting detective stories but then I’ve also read many worse ones. While I have not struck Bramah completely off my reading list, it will probably take some time before I revisit his blind detective Carrados.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The superhuman detective…

A collection of short stories about amateur detective Max Carrados, whose blindness has allowed him to develop all his other senses way beyond the norm, and also well beyond the limits of believability. The stories are well written and some of the plots are interesting, though others are pretty dull, but I tired very quickly of Carrados’ superhuman sensory abilities, such as being able to date an ancient coin by touch alone. There seemed to be something of a fad for detectives with disabilities round about that period – the book was published in 1914 – though sadly not in the sense of creating visibility or understanding for people with disabilities, but rather as a form of entertainment for able-bodied people to wonder over. However, it wasn’t the absence of political correctness that prevented me enjoying the book wholeheartedly – that is of its time and Bramah certainly doesn’t disparage his hero. It was simply that I felt Bramah took the concept too far, making it impossible for me to believe in Carrados’ abilities. The stories I enjoyed best were the ones that relied least on the fact of Carrados being blind. Worth a read, though – I certainly found them more enjoyable than some of the books from this very early period of mystery writing.

www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine Sherlock Holmes with a better sense of humor, an addiction to rare coin collecting instead of cocaine, a smarmy PI as his Watson, and his own answer to Lord Peter Wimsey's Mervyn Bunter. Also, imagine him blind, but with every other sense sharpened. Now you have Max Carrados.

I first ran into him in a collection called The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Greatest Detective Stories: 1837-1914, and I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories. It has the typical anti-foreigner prejudices of its era, and some stories are too easy to figure out, but all of them are worth reading.

[Kelvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 1914 book by English author Ernest Bramah and is the first book that features his famous blind detective Max Carrados. Max Carrados (who was the contemporary of Sherlock Holmes) was very famous at the time but has since then fallen out of favor with mystery readers. That is really a shame because I think the stories are very cleverly plotted and well written, even though readers might need to suspend their disbelief as to whether a blind person can really have the sensory perceptions processed by Carrados. Carrados, whose original name was Max Wynn, lost his eyesight in a riding accident and subsequently inherited a large fortune from his cousin, who required him to change his name to Wynn Carrados as a condition of inheritance. Carrados is assisted by his very able valet Parkinson (who occasionally serve as his eyes), his secretary Mr. Greatorex (which did not play a significant role in the stories in this collection) and his Watson, private inquiry agent Louis Carlyle. Even though Carrados is blind, he has a great logical brain and a photographic memory. He also compensated for his blindness by having an extra human sense of touch (he can read newspapers and letters by touch); smell (he can tell if one is wearing a disguise by smelling the makeup on the person); hearing (he can shoot a man in the dark by hearing his heartbeat and his watch ticking).

Spoiler Alert. This 1914 book is a collection of 8 stories.

The Coin of Dionysius (4 Star). This is the first story in the series and introduced Carrados to the readers. The story is about how a famous coin faker, Pietro Stelli, and his accomplices devised an ingenious scheme whereby one of the members of the gang, Nina Brun, would seek employment as parlourmaid in coin collectors’ houses. She would then take wax impressions on the most valuable coins in the collection, have Pietro manufacture a counterfeit coin, and then switch the counterfeit for the real coin. After enough time has elapsed and enough of the valuable coins have been substituted with counterfeits, Nina would leave her employer and move on to another collector. Ultimately, Carrados was able to uncover the scheme because when Nina tried to do the same trick at Carrados’ house (Carrados was also a famous rare coin collector), Carrados smelt the wax residual on his coin after Nina has made an imprint.

The Knight's Cross Signal Problem (5 Star). This is a story about Carrados helping his friend Carlyle who was hired by a railroad company to investigate who was at fault in a fatal railway accident where a train ran a red signal and crashed into another train, resulting in many deaths and injuries. While everybody suspected one of the two train drivers must be at fault, Carrados was able to discover it was actually a clever sabotage scheme ran by an Indian man called Drishna for financial gain that caused the accident. Drishna got a bad stock tip and sold short the stocks of the Central and Suburban Railway. The company, however, reported good news and the stock rose instead. Drishna, facing financial ruin, came up with a plan to put a green light in front of a red signal light to trick the driver of a train into running a red signal and caused a crash. That caused the stock of the company to fall sharply and Drishna made a handsome profit. Finally, Carrados was able to follow the steps of Drishna and reconstructed his scheme and uncovered it.

The Tragedy at Brookbend Cottage (5 Star). In this case, Carrados tried to save an abused wife from being murdered by her husband. An electrical engineer called Austin Creake is married to his wife Millicent. He was also having an affair with a typist in his office. In order to kill his wife and make it look like an accident, he planned to have his wife electrocuted and make it look as if she was struck by thunder during a rainstorm. The couple lives the suburb right along a tramline. Austin cleverly set up a gadget to link a wire from the tram’s overhead electric wire, over a tree branch in his garden, then onto his first floor (English first floor, American second floor) balcony metal door. He waited until a rainy night with heavy a thunderstorm. He has an arrangement with his wife so that if he were to return late, he will throw rocks at the balcony’s French window to get her attention, she would then open the balcony window to throw the key to the front door at him. His plan was the electric current from the tram would kill his wife when she opened the balcony door. Austin can then later make it look like she went outside on the balcony and was hit by thunder. Carrados saw through his scheme and was able to prevent the murder.

The Clever Mrs. Straithwaite (4 Star) In this attempted insurance fraud case, Carrados helped his friend Carlyle to uncover a purported pearl necklace theft scheme. A socialite Stephanie Straithwaite tried to run an insurance fraud scheme. She has for years wore in public functions a string of fake pearl necklace. She then borrowed a string of expensive real pearl necklace from a relative for a few days then have it insured as if it was her own. Later, when the insurance company wanted to do a surprise audit on the necklace, she ordered another string from the jeweler Markham to show them. She then decided to pull the trigger on the fraud and coopted her husband into helping her. The plan was to have her wear the real Markham necklace to an opera, where she would give it to her husband and then later report it was lost. Her husband, who was against the idea but was forced by his wife to cooperate, decided to double cross her and made it look it a third party was onto their scheme and stole the necklace instead. Carrados finally got to the truth and the necklace was returned to Markham and no insurance claim was filed.

The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor (5 Star). The Lucas Street depository company was purportedly the safest deposit box provider in London. It has a very complex set of protections. To access one’s safe deposit box, a customer needs to (1) provide a password, (2) provide a matching signature to the one on file, (3) have the key to the box and (4) personally recognized by the manager. One day, as Carrados was waiting for Carlyle to transact business in the deposit company, Carrados noticed a man walking around suspiciously, as if he was following somebody. Carrados also smelt that the man was wearing certain kinds of makeup and concluded he was in disguise. It turns out the man is Ulysses Groom (also known as Harry the Actor), a famous international fraudster. Ulysses has devised a clever plot to break into the deposit boxes. He was able to successfully get copies of the keys because the keys are reused and he had previously rented 12 boxes using different disguises and returned them. By running a con game on the manager, he got pictures of the signatures and passwords on file and by disguising as the real deposit box holder he was able to gain entry.

The Tilling Shaw Mystery (4 Star) This is a story where Carrados’ client tried to trick Carrados into making a wrong conclusion. Two branches of the Whitmarsh family each control half of a large parcel of land with rich coal deposits. The William Whitmarsh branch owns the rich land and prospered. The Frank Whitmarsh branch owns the poor land and struggled. While Frank wants to allow mining on his land to make money, he cannot do so because there is a restrictive covenant on both lands that no mining is allowed on either property unless both the William and Frank branches agree. A few years ago, young Frank (the new generation) dated Madeline, the daughter of William Whitmarsh. She wrote Frank some compromising letters. Frank now tried to use those letters to blackmail William to give Frank the mining concession. William, in anger, took a shot at Frank but only hit his watch and Frank was unharmed but fainted. William thought he has killed Frank and in despair shot himself. Madeline, who was engaged to a clergy, believes the stigma of being the daughter of an attempted murderer and suicided man would make her fiancé break off the marriage. So, she decided to frame Frank to make it look like William never shot at Frank and it was Frank who murdered William. Carrados, however, was able to see through her planted fake evidence in the form of some cigarette paper rolled into a stub.

The Comedy at Fountain Cottage (5 star). This story is about how Carrados helped Elsie Bellmark, the niece of Carlyle, to solve a domestic mystery. When Elsie’s neighbor tried very hard to get her to move, Carrados was called in to take a look. It turns out years ago, an eccentric rich man called Alexis Metrobe has buried 5000 pounds in a sealed can on land that is now Elsie’s garden. After Alexis died, his former butler and former gardener both suspected treasure was buried in Elsie’s garden and tried to access it to dig it up. Carrados finally cleverly solved the puzzle and found the hidden treasure.

The Game Played in the Dark (4 Star). This is the story where readers were told how Carrados can purportedly shoot people accurately in the dark just by hearing their heartbeat and their watch tick. A band of criminals kidnapped Carrados and tried to keep him imprisoned for a few days so he cannot interfere with a criminal plot they are conducting. Carrados, however, turned the table on them by first cutting the wire to the lamp that lit the room. When everybody was in the dark, Carrados forced everyone to stay put, threatening to shoot them if they moved. Carrados told them while he is blind, he can shoot straight just by hearing their heartbeat and the ticking of their watches. We never got to find out if that is true. Carrados held them off long enough for help to arrive before sunrise and the criminals were arrested. It turned out it was a bluff by Carrados. He did not have a gun with him.

[Gerald Sinstadt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Max Carrados is Sherlock Holmes-lite. Like Holmes, he has his amanuensis - the private detective, Carlyle. Like Holmes, Carrados deals in deduction, a necessary technique for a blind man. Often his ability out-Sherlocks his predecessor: a man wearing a false moustache is detected because Carrados can smell the spirit gum by which the disguise is attached. If that doesn't deter, these stories may provide mild entertainment - at least until a thief returns the proceeds of his exploits having seen the eror of his ways as the result of hearing a Salvation Army preacher!

In fairness, the book ws published as long ago as 1914 when tastes and standards were perhaps less exacting. What surprises are implicit racism and explicit opposition to the death penalty. Not so much a Sherlock shock as a Carrados paradox.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max Carrados is one of the Edwardian detectives in the short story collection. I found him interesting. He is blind from an accident, but has trained all his other senses to make up for being unable to see. He also has an assistant who "sees" for him and has trained himself to make note of things his employer might be interested in. A friend has become a private detective and comes to him for information about a coin that may be fake, Carrados' name given to him by a coin dealer. Max asks him to come to him again with a case if he helps him solve this one. So becomes a regular communication between the two and Max helping him to solve cases or solving them for him.
His eplanations and how he learns what he wants to know are quite interesting.

[Redbird · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains 3 of the same stories as another book I read "4 Max Carrados Stories". This book has 8 stories total.

The stories didn't really engage me. One tale, about a girl who got a strange letter and hasn't seen her father in years, starts out interesting, but then it just seems to be really reaching for Max to be able to discern what he does to solve the mystery. I just wasn't able or willing to suspend my disbelief for these stories. They weren't fun or thought provoking.

[Ritika · Rating 3 out of 5]

A casual dive into classic detective literature has turned into an interesting journey. While this is not one of the best examples of the genre, it has a different take and would probably still make for a decent procedural series on TV.

[Chris Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with R Austin Freeman’s Dr Thorndyke stories (e.g. The Singing Bone) I came across Ernest Bramah’s Max Carrados stories because of their mention in the “Detective Stories” essay by George Orwell. I have reread the Holmes and Watson collection many times and sampled Wilkie Collins, Sayers, Christie, Poe etc but somehow missed out on Carrados and Bramah.
I now know that the Max Carrados stories first appeared in The Strand alongside the Holmes and Watson stories and that Bramah was if anything more highly thought of than Conan Doyle at the time. And yet in my 7th decade and a reasonably active reader Bramah was new to me.
The plots have many similarities such as a brilliant but somewhat eccentric amateur detective as the central character, an enigmatic relationship with the official police who are treated with respect and mockery at the same time, a set of supporting characters including a special friend and confidant who can be totally relied on but whose own efforts at deduction are merely a way of demonstrating the main sleuth’s brilliance, a series of mysteries which are ranked according to their interest and curiosity rather than criminal severity, and what seems to me to be a grudging admiration for the cleverer wrongdoers, especially if they are vaguely aristocratic.
They also differ in many respects. Most strikingly Max Carrados is unable to see but has such extreme compensatory development of his other senses that this has become an advantage to him, especially in the dark where he out manoeuvres several baddies. Max is not, at least in this first volume, a drug addict or violinist but he has a great interest in ancient coins being able to tell them apart instantly by touch and keeps abreast of the newspaper headlines by touching them with his finger.
Why then have the Holmes and Watson stories continued to be so widely known whilst the Carrados mysteries are pretty much a literary footnote? Firstly, it’s the combination of Holmes and Watson that holds such attraction for me. Conan Doyle succeeds in painting the character of Watson (Doctor, war wounds, marriage etc) in a way which neither Bramah or for that matter Freeman are able to with the companions to Carrados or Thorndyke. We learn something but not much about the private detective Mr. Carlyle who accompanies Carrados or about Parkinson his observant manservant or Greatorex his perceptive secretary. In Thorndyke we have Dr Jervis MD as the assistant and the obscure Polton as laboratory assistant but again details are lacking and these characters remain relatively sketchy compared with the details we learn about Watson even in the first few pages of a Study in Scarlet (Jezail bullet in the shoulder in Afghanistan etc). Perhaps over time these characters become more fully formed but at least in these early volumes they pale besides Watson both as a narrator and participant in events. Because Holmes and Watson are such rounded characters the interaction of the two is that much more interesting than where Jervis and Carlyle simply serve to narrate the story for Thorndyke and Carrados rather than playing any great part in events.
The second reason why I think the Carrados and Thorndyke stories have to some extent become overlooked is that the stories are relatively simple compared with those of Holmes - there is the same sense of the great man being able to “see” what others can’t and use scientific method to arrive at unexpected conclusions but to be honest the surprise solutions are not much of a surprise and there are not the layers of detail found with the Holmes stories.
Thirdly, again at least in the first volumes I have read, there is not for me the sense of connection with contemporary London in either Carrados or Thorndyke that there is in Holmes. Whereas Conan Doyle summons up images of Ulster coats, tweed suits, Hanson cabs, opium dens, the Thames, swirling mist and a real sense of menace in the streets this comes through much less in the other books. Neither does there appear to be the evil anti hero running an international crime network that Moriaty supplies to Holmes or indeed what passes for love interest in Holmes in the form of Irene Adler. The Holmes stories seem to me to have, like the finest Bordeaux wines from Pauillac, layers of complexity whilst Thorndyke and Carrados are more like very well made Bordeaux AOC wine, recognisably of the same type but with fewer layers.
All that said I found this first volume of Max Carrados stories to be engaging and entertaining and I look forward to making his further acquaintance. I also enjoyed Dr Thorndyke and will read more of him, at some point.
George Orwell maintained that the stories of Holmes, Carrados and Thorndyke were the only detective stories since Poe that were worth rereading. There is a strong argument that this remains true.

[P.Chang · Rating 5 out of 5]

โดยรวมสนุกมาก ยอดเยี่ยม ทึ่งไปกับนักสืบตาบอด และความสามารถพิเศษของเขาที่ผู้คนปกติไม่มี รวมไปถึงผู้ช่วยของเขาที่มีความพิเศษเป็นอย่างยิ่ง ชอบทั้งการเล่าเรื่องและการวางโครงเรื่อง การดำเนินเรื่องทำไปได้ดี หลายคนอาจจะมองว่าเวอร์เกินไป แต่นั่นกับทำให้ทึ่งมากขึ้นเข้าไปใหญ่กับความสามารถเหล่านั้น ส่วนตัวแล้วชอบคดีที่ 7 และคดีสุดท้าย เป็นความสามารถที่ยอดเยี่ยมมากของนักสืบผู้ไร้ซึ่งดวงตา....

การแปล ดีเยี่ยม ยังคงมีมาตรฐานดีเช่นเคย ไม่มีคำผิด และการเลือกใช้คำได้ยอดเยี่ยม อ่านง่ายและลื่นไหล....

เนื้อเรื่อง เป็นเรื่องสั้น มีทั้งหมด 8 ตอน ประกอบไปด้วย
คดีที่ 1 เหรียญไดโอนีเซีย เป็นบทแนะนำ ให้เราได้ทำความรู้จัก แม็กซ์ คาราด๊อส นักสืบผู้ไร้ซึ่งดวงตาในการมองเห็น แต่ใช้ประสาทสัมผัส ทางเสียง กลิ่น และการสัมผัส ได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ กล่าวถึงหัวขโมย ที่ขโมยเหรียญกรีกโบราณ ไปโดยที่เจ้าของไม่ทันจะรู้ตัว ทำให้เราต้องทึ่งไปกับความสามารถของนักสืบผู้มีดวงตาอันมืดมิด และผู้ช่วยที่มีความสามารถพิเศษเป็นอย่างยิ่ง
คดีที่ 2 ปัญหาสัญญาณไฟที่ไน้ท์ส คร้อสส์ เล่าถึงอุบัติเหตุรถไฟชน โดยคนขับรถไฟอ้างว่า เห็นสัญญาณไฟเขียว จึงผ่านตลอด ทางด้านคนให้สัญญาณ ก็ยืนยันว่า ตนได้ให้สัญญาณที่ถูกต้องเช่นกัน แต่ทั้งสองมีความบาดหมางกันมาก่อนแล้ว นั่นทำให้นักสืบ ต้องหาตัวคนผิด โดยใช้ความสามารถพิเศษ ของเขา มาแก้ไขสถานการณ์ ช่วยเหลือคนบริสุทธิ์
คดีที่ 3 โศกนาฏกรรมที่บ้านบรู๊คเบนด์ ชายหนุ่มผู้สงสัยว่าจะเกิดเหตุร้าย กับน้องสาวของตน ซึ่งมีผู้ต้องสงสัยเป็นน้องเขย เข้ามาขอความช่วยเหลือกับแม็กซ์ ยอดนักสืบผู้ไร้ซึ่งดวงตา ว่าสิ่งที่เขาสงสัยนั้นจะเกิดขึ้นจริงในไม่ช้า นั้นทำให้นักสืบต้องออกโรง หาพยานหลักฐาน เพื่อที่จะเอาผิด และเพื่อพิสูจน์ว่าสิ่งที่ชายหนุ่มนั้นคิดผิดหรือไม่
คดีที่ 4 โจรกรรมสั่งลาของแฮร์รี่จอมลีลา The save สถานที่รับฝากสิ่งของมีค่าที่ดีที่สุดในเกาะอังกฤษ ซึ่งผู้บริหารมั่นใจมากว่าไม่มีทางที่ใครจะสามารถขโมยของภายในเดอะเซฟได้ ด้วยการโฆษณา ทำให้เหล่าผู้มีอันจะกิน นำของมีค่าไปฝากไว้ แต่แล้ววันหนึ่งผู้ที่ฝากของหลายราย กับพบว่าสิ่งของของพวกเขาหายไปอย่างไร้ร่องรอย นั่นทำให้เรื่องต้องถึงมือของยอดนักสืบผู้ไร้ซึ่งดวงตา อีกครั้งที่เขาจะแก้ปัญหา ที่อาจจะมีเพียงเขาเท่านั้นที่แก้ได้
คดีที่ 5 ลับลวงพรางที่ทิลลิ่งชอว์ คดีโอละพ่อ เรื่องของที่ดิน ระหว่างพี่น้องคนละแม่ ซึ่งคนนึงได้ที่ดินที่ดีกว่า แต่อีกคนนึงได้ที่ดินที่แย่มาก จึงเป็นบ่อเกิดแห่งโศกนาฏกรรม สุภาพสตรีคนหนึ่ง มาขอความเป็นธรรม ที่พ่อเขาถูกกล่าวหาว่าเป็นคนฆาตกรรมหลานชายของเขา แล้วฆ่าตัวตายตาม ทำให้แม็กซ์จึงต้องเดินทางไปทำคดียังต่างเมือง ในที่ดินที่มีปัญหา เขาต้องหาพยานหลักฐานต่าง ๆ ด้วยความไม่คุ้นชิน ด้วยความสามารถของเขา และผู้ช่วยที่แสนวิเศษ นั่นจะทำให้เขาก้าวผ่านไปได้หรือไม่
คดีที่ 6 คดีสายลับเยอรมันที่คิงส์มัธ คดีนี้เป็นการขอความช่วยเหลือจากตำรวจ เพื่อสืบหาตัวสายลับต่างชาติ ผู้ซึ่งขโมยเอกสารลับ นั่นทำให้เขาจึงต้องแกะรอยตามหาตัวสายลับคนนั้นให้ได้ เพื่อชาติ และเพื่อคนอังกฤษ
คดีที่ 7 คดีปริศนาดาราหาย นักแสดงผู้ซึ่งโด่งดังจากบทบาทเล็ก ๆ ที่กำลังเป็นกระแสอยู่ ณ ปัจจุบัน มีผู้มาร้องขอความช่วยเหลือ ผู้เป็นชายหนุ่มเล่าว่า นักแสดงที่แสดงอยู่บนเวทีเวลานี้เป็นตัวปลอม คู่หมั้นของเขาที่ควรจะเป็นคนได้รับบทหายตัวไปอย่างไรร่องรอย จึงมาขอความช่วยเหลือให้ตามหา เรื่องนี้จะลงเอยเช่นไร เธอจะยังมีชีวิตอยู่หรือไม่
คดีที่ 8 หมากกลในความมืด เกิดคดีเหรียญกรีกโบราณถูกขโมยออกจากพิพิธภัณฑ์ ทางนักสืบจึงถูกขอให้ช่วยเหลือ แล้วอยู่ ๆ ก็มีหญิงสาวคนหนึ่งมาขอความช่วยเหลือ ว่าสามีของตนมีเหรียญเก่าที่ขุดเจอ ต้องการให้นักสืบเข้ามาตรวจสอบ แม็กซ์จะหาทางช่วยเหลือพวกเขาอย่างไร....

#Panอ่าน

[The Usual · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are certain works of fiction that serve as the benchmark for all others of their type. They aren’t necessarily the earliest, they aren’t necessarily the best, but they define the standard. Therein lies the danger. The danger is that having defined the standard we expect to see it, and are disappointed or satisfied depending on the degree to which this happens. We end up judging a vampire novel on its similarity to Dracula or a fantasy trilogy by how closely it identifies with The Lord of the Rings; or, in a slightly more sophisticated mode, we judge by the degree to which a work differs from the norm – on its supposed originality. Both approaches are to some extent useful but are, in the context of a review (or reviewish short of thing), in terms of the expectations they set up, a disaster. Ultimately, only Dracula is Dracula, and ultimately – whisper it – all authors steal. Yes, all of them.

Now, the go-to work for the Edwardian gentleman-amateur detective is the canon of Sherlock Holmes stories. Notwithstanding that Conan Doyle turned out a fair few duds, and that the Holmes and Watson format isn’t necessarily all that well adapted to a longer form, Sherlock Holmes is considered the gold standard. There are good reasons for this. That doesn’t mean he’s the only show in town, merely that he is the benchmark, the yardstick. It’s an error to see something different as a pale imitation; it’s an error to see differences as flaws.

And so? And having pontificated on the subject, just how am I going to approach this?

I’m going to, with much hedging, many a caveat and hopefully not too many value judgements, compare this thing to Sherlock Holmes.

The first thing to note, then, is that this set of stories is written in the third-person and in a lighter style than Conan Doyle’s output. The characters are less… solid than in the Holmes stories but the mysteries are more colourful and developed with the odd flash of humour. They were, in a way, more fun, just as some of the Arsene Lupin stories are. Not as much fun as Kai Lung, but then considerably less tiring.

As far as Carrados himself is concerned, he’s not one of the great characters. Carrados is intelligent, independently wealthy, generous and blind. I tend to forget that he’s blind, in spite of the fact that that’s his big gimmick, because it doesn’t make much difference to the stories. In fact, I get the feeling Bramah forgets it himself from time to time. He certainly doesn’t let it hold Carrados back. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just something to be aware of.

Now, does that mean I’m going to recommend this to Sherlock Holmes readers who, having run out of original stories (and not caring to take their chances with fan-fiction), are looking for something else?

Perhaps. Perhaps. I’d certainly point them in the direction of G. K. Chesterton first – The Club of Queer Trades I regard as a better bet, not least because it’s even less Holmesian – and I might gesture vaguely in the direction of Horowitz’s House of Silk as a good (very good) modern Holmes; but I think, on balance, this might do. As I said: it was fun.

And there we have it.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this book of Amazon for my kindle after hearing about the character on an old radio quiz show called "Information Please." Max Carrados is a wealthy British man who takes up a job as a private detective, with a twist: he is blind.

Like most fictional blind characters, his other senses have been super heightened, so that he can read larger text on paper with his fingers, hear things others cannot hear, and so on. He combines these non visual clues while not being distracted by what he sees to come to solutions others miss or don't get to as quickly.

The book consists of several short stories, each more or less leading into the other but not as a sequence: his notoriety and fame grows over time as he solves several high profile cases, and others are alluded to, but not told.

Overall the writing is pretty solid, but a bit too florid and over-fancy at times, as if the author had a thesaurus on hand at all times and used it heavily. Several of the early stories are a bit heavy on the moralizing, whether about capital punishment or an Indian criminal who gives a two page rant on how the evil British colonizers are behaving. The mysteries are done well enough, usually fairly obscure although one relies very heavily on information that the writer just doesn't bother giving the readers.

Not a bad series of stories and the blind detective is an interesting twist with a likable main character, but not a real standout and I can see why this has basically been forgotten over time.

[SapphireFox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief review/rating per story in this collection:

1. The Coin of Dionysus: Absolutely Adored it = 4-Stars
2. The Knight’s Cross Signal Problem: A bit more bland. Reminded me of the Craig Kennedy stories in that it got rather bogged down with technical details = 2-Stars
3. The Tragedy at Brookbend Cottage: Identified the "means" of the coming plot quite early on, but the writer still managed to work in a little twist in the end = 3-Stars
4. The Clever Mrs. Straithwaite: The "mystery" was interesting enough but the writing and progress of the story was rather convoluted and vapid = 2-Stars
5. The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor: Short, fun and colourful caper story = 4-Stars
6. The Tilling Shaw Mystery: Not quite sure what to make of this one but it was written well enough to keep me reading = 3-Stars
7. The Comedy at Fountain Cottage: = 4-Stars
8. The Game Played in the Dark: = 5-Stars

Interactions of the protagonist and some of the supporting characters are reminiscent of other popular amateur sleuths such as Sherlock, Lord Peter Wimsey and The Mentalist especially on the first and last stories!

[BJ McSt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't found a lot of mysteries written 100 or more years ago that, in my view, have held up well or pull me in so that I want to read to the end. Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op stories continue to intrigue. Mary Rinehart's stories are interesting. Now I can add this unusual sleuth. This volume has 8 stories and I was pulled in by all except the last one. I hadn't heard of this author or the character; the book was a Kindle freebie and I expected to get part-way into it and delete it, as I have several other vintage books for various reasons. But once started, I found I looked forward to quiet times to read more. I hope others find this gentleman and his cases as intriguing as I did.

[Jc · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original collection of Max Carrados stories, first published in 1914. These definitely have a pre-WWI innocence about them, even when describing murders. Max is an interesting character, but quite dated. The story plots mostly catch the reader’s attention, but I usually found the conclusions largely unsatisfying (e.g., one set of crimes is not really solved, but ends when the criminal becomes a christian [!]). Worth reading a few of these stories, just to get a feel for them, but I don’t recommend going any further. Try the “best of” collection I read earlier to get a taste, then watch the dramatized versions–they tend to be more interesting.

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A contemporary of Holmes, a man who relies on intellect and a superior servant to ‘see’ for him, and on the elevated senses he has to compensate for his blindness. Eight stories in this collection.

888

I don’t know, he seems okay with clever or enterprising upper class people getting away with their crimes… hand wobble. I guess he is not in justice per se. And one where they were all so busy being clever they forgot to check on the victim.

3 stars

So far this year, my library saved me A$3505.89

[Peter T · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blind Sherlock Holmes.

Along with his friend & private investigator, Carlyle they solve very interesting & intriguing cases.

About assisted by his man Parkinson & driver Greatorex, Max "sees" more than the sighted.

Written in the early 1900's, it had a quaint turn off phrase that very much suits the characters.

I found it enjoyable, without reaching any great pinnacles of more celebrated works.

[Rona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just found this oldie but goodie! Great stories. A little like Holmes, but neither as arrogant,nor as neurotic. Intricate plots, suspense and good characters.

The details about him being blind are SO very wrong. But I ignored that to enjoy a good story.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free Early Bird Book Deal | no time for a review right now

[KunPunnawat · Rating 5 out of 5]

ตัวละครมีเอกลักษณ์ เรื่องสั้นสุดท้ายตื่นเต้นเร้าใจ

[Regine]

Pleasant.

[隻眼簽到 · Rating 3 out of 5]

盲偵探卡拉多斯。Ernest Bramah。 簡單、葉棻譯。
盲偵探真是太厲害了，簡直是福爾摩斯的誇張版本，無法學習的對象。不僅「觀察」力無法學習，他對罪案來龍去脈羚羊掛角般的了解，也一樣無法學習。本書和《福爾摩斯探案》一樣，是短篇故事集。作者也是英國人。當然，同樣具有英國人那種特殊的對話風格。有趣。

[Jay Maxfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing only the first eight stories appearing in Max Carrados which was published in 1914 by Methuen (list of stories below). This book of short stories is one of 100 books that are mentioned in Martin Edwards forth coming book The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books. These short stories are reminiscent of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories in that they have a Sherlock (Max Carrados - mostly blind - expert in in many weird and wonderful subjects) and a Watson (Louis Carlyle - former solicitor turned private detective). Many of the plot lines are also similar in that they relate to bizarre crimes other than murder e.g. hidden money, stolen necklaces etc. Although I enjoyed reading many of the stories a few of them were weak and wouldn't pass muster as interesting or as being memorable - they are mostly in the vain of a low grade Sherlock Holmes story. The highlights of the stories are that they champion social ideas that were new at the time namely that blind people don't need to be pitied and that they are capable of intelligent reasoning and have developed in some areas a higher degree of sensory perception. Another factor that becomes apparent in the later part of The Knight's Cross Signal Problem is one of racial equality which I haven't seem before in such a early main stream publication.The irritating part of the stories (which I also find with some of the Sherlock Holmes stories) is that Max Carrados is privy to information that hasn't been disclosed in the story and can bring together very unrelated facts that nobody but Sherlock & Max would know. This version of the ebook in general is very readable however there are a few disturbing typos that may annoy some pernickety readers. Well worth a read but don't expect the style and quality of Conan Doyle. I would give this book 7 out of 10.
The Coin of Dionysius
The Knight's Cross Signal Problem
The Tragedy of 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