#max carrados

[hedonistbyheart]

Just as general info for the curious who might not know:

The Max Carrados story that Edwin reads to Charles as he's dying is called "the ghost at Massingham Mansions" and it's recorded on YouTube and available on Project Gutenberg.

[skjam]

Pulp Crossover Fiction Fodder: Max Carrados

Warning: Some spoilers for Max Carrados stories, particularly "The Eastern Mystery".

History: Max Wynn was born approximately in the 1880s to a decent but not wealthy family, and had a sister who is unnamed in the stories. He attended a public school (what Americans would call a "private school") for young men planning to go into the professions, where one of his friends was Louis Calling, a fellow planning to become a solicitor.

By the time he graduated, Max's parents had passed away, and his sister had married a fellow from the tiny village of Tapsfield. (That becomes important later.) The inheritance was a pittance, and with no connections, Max had trouble finding a suitable position, keeping afloat by often being a guest at other people's houses.

Then came the first stroke of luck that would alter his life. A cousin in America by the name of Carrados had accumulated a considerable fortune by dubious means, and named Max in his will as the sole inheritor provided Max change his name to "Carrados." Max leaped at the chance and legally changed his name to Wynn Carrados. (His friends still call him "Max.") He purchased a house in Richmond, a ritzy suburb of London, and settled down to a life of ease.

Then came the second stroke. While out riding, he took a branch across the eyes, permanently blinding him. Determined to not let this limit him, Max honed his remaining senses to a remarkable degree. He also hired servants who could handle the remaining things that were impossible without sight. He traveled widely, and kept well-informed.

In approximately 1913, Max was approached by an inquiry agent (private detective), Louis Carlyle, who needed assistance with a case involving a rare Greek coin, a subject he'd been told Wynn Carrados was an expert on. Carlyle turned out to be the former Calling, who'd had to change his name when he was disbarred for financial misconduct he claims he was innocent of. The two men renewed their acquaintance, and Max identified the true nature of the coin.

Louis then started bringing Max other baffling cases, and Mr. Carrados also began finding mysteries on his own.

With the beginning of the Great War, Max also started assisting British Military Intelligence, though much of that work remains classified.

After the War, Mr. Carrados also began interfering in the plots of the Communist International (Comintern), most notably in 1921 when he thwarted a large-scale counterfeiting scheme. All while solving normal mysteries, of course.

He is known to have been active until at least 1926, but the official accounts of his cases cease there.

Powers and Skills: Max Carrados is completely blind, but has trained his remaining senses to a near superhuman level. He can detect a counterfeit coin by taste, read large print by passing his fingers over the pages, tell if someone has changed their shirt by smell, and shoot unerringly using the slightest sound. He also has a prodigious memory, never forgetting a voice (even ones he only heard before going blind!)

In addition, he has a keen deductive mind, is widely read, and is conversant in several languages, particularly both Ancient and Modern Greek.

Quirks: The eyes of Max Carrados appear normal to casual observers. He does not use dark glasses, a cane or a service dog as he's very good at getting around without those and prefers not to signal that he's blind to random people. He will, however, suddenly need someone to guide him when it's convenient for him to pretend to be more helpless. Interestingly, Braille is never mentioned, but it's unlikely that he's neglected to learn that skill.

He is an avid coin collector, and one of the top experts on rare coins, especially Greek ones.

Max never at any time ever shows romantic interest in anyone. At one point Louis jokes about what a Mrs. Carrados would have to put up with, but Max treats it merely as a hypothetical exercise. Depending on the needs of the story, you can have him be on the aro/ace spectrum, or deeply in the closet about being homosexual. There was at least one interested lady in his youth, but no indication that he reciprocated.

Supporting cast:

Parkinson, his valet and sometimes driver (there's also a regular driver who is not important to stories.) Parkinson has been with Mr. Carrados since before he went blind and is utterly faithful to his employer. He has superior vision, an excellent visual memory, and has learned how best to convey his information to Max. He's well paid enough that he has significant investments of his own, though Parkinson is a nervous investor who pulls his money at the first sign of trouble.

Greatorex, the butler. He's rather youthful for his position, but makes up for it by being very responsible. Greatorex is something of the straight man for Mr. Carrados' odd requests and hours. He has a sister who's a suffragette. There's also a cook/housekeeper, but she's mainly there for Greatorex to have someone to explain the latest outrage to.

Louis Carlyle nee Calling, inquiry agent. He's quite successful as a private detective, employing several lesser agents at his agency. The author is at pains to point out that he's really quite competent, only consulting with Carrados on the most baffling of cases. He and Max are good personal friends as well, often dining and taking in entertainment together. Louis has a married niece, Elsie Bellmark, who appears in a few cases.

Inspector Beedel of Scotland Yard is their designated contact for when they must reluctantly admit they're stumped and call in Max Carrados to consult. He's inoffensive and quiet and to the point.

Clifton Baker only appears in one story, but she's a doozy. Clifton is one of the world's foremost linguists and cryptographers, absolutely brilliant at her work. But she acts like a frivolous flapper, at least partially so her male colleagues and customers won't feel threatened by her intellect. (And also because she was so focused on getting her expertise that she never had any fun when she was young.)

Nora Melhuish is Max's never before mentioned niece, introduced in The Bravo of London. Her brother Tom is mentioned, but is away in the Alps during that case. She lives in Tapsfield, the village that makes the paper for Bank of England banknotes. Nora is a plucky lass who thinks nothing of donning leather trousers to ride a motorcycle, or disguising herself as a maid to infiltrate a criminal hideout. She's in love with Geoffrey Tilehurst, a white-collar worker at the paper mill who is the target of criminals. While her story takes place in 1921, it was published in 1934, so she's not yet in the public domain.

Story use: Obviously, he's yet another amateur detective with a gimmick that will be helpful in certain stories. Since there's no indication that he was anywhere near death, he could be used well into the 1950s though by that time he'd probably be less physically active.

He's not a "fair play" detective, quite a few of his cases are solved by Max remembering an obscure passage in one of his rare books or a newspaper item from years ago.

He's also not entirely excluded from the supernatural. While all the ghosts he investigates are hoaxes, in "The Eastern Mystery" a holy relic turns out to be just that, but mislabeled. And in another story, electric wires can convey the feelings of the dead, even if it isn't true communication.

His expertise in coin collecting is an easy hook for some stories, and the rather surprising reveal that he's a Commie-smasher that just never happened to mention that he was doing that on the side could lend itself to similar surprises for the other characters in your story.

Thoughts, comments?

@krinsbez @iconuk

[the-wine-dark-sea]

This is kind of random, but I love that Edwin reads Charles a comparatively obscure story in the episode 7 flashback.

It would have been so easy to just have him read, for example, a Sherlock Holmes story and be done with it. The epitome of classic detective fiction to this day, which everyone knows about, whether they've ever read any or not. (And it's not like it wouldn't have been fitting for a number of reasons.) But they went with Max Carrados, a character who was popular around the time Edwin died, but who has largely faded into obscurity today. And I think that's such a neat little bit of storytelling, because it shows the difference between Edwin's time and the late 80's or the present day so well. Sure, there are also the usual tells that Edwin lived in the past - he wears old-timey clothes and doesn't understand what the internet is, things that are commonly used for that type of situation. This, however, is a bit more subtle, just a gentle little reminder that Edwin's (pop)cultural influences differ from Charles', or the viewers'. It's only a little detail but I'm very fond of it, and of how it plays with a lesser known classic, with what is popularly remembered and what maybe isn't.

(And Max Carrados is only the tip of the iceberg and better remembered than a lot of other genre/sensational fiction that Edwin might have read when he was alive. It depends on what was deemed worthy to be preserved, and isn't that fitting concerning a boy whose disappearance was shrugged off and who has long been forgotten? But that's probably me thinking too deeply about this lol.)

[mrseek]

“So, Inspector, you could not wait for me, after all?”

This story was so <3<3

Click for good quality as always

[cannondisabledcharacters]

Today’s disabled character of the day is Max Carrados from The Collected Max Carrados Investigations: The Cases of the Renowned Blind Edwardian Detective, who is blind

[mariocki]

The Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes: The Missing Witness Sensation (1.2, Thames, 1971)

“I’d advise you to keep that sort of remark in your britches pocket while you’re here, Mr. Carrados. This once, your blind eyes protect you.” “They often have - they often will.”

[maxcarrados]

About Max

Max Carrados (originally Max Wynn) is an amateur detective in Edwardian London, with the unusual distinction of also being blind. He lives in The Turrets, Richmond, and is financially independent after an American cousin left him a small fortune. He could only inherit the fortune by changing his name to Carrados, which he did not object to. He compensates for his lack of sight by paying close attention to his other senses. Max can read print by finger-touch, use a typewriter, and usually identifies people by their voice alone.

He has been compared to Sherlock Holmes for his insight into mysteries, using his intellect and senses to solve complex cases. He is often called upon by Scotland Yard and his friend Louis Carlyle, the head of a detective agency, to assist in criminal cases. He has a particular expertise in numismatics (coins) and is a keen collector. He is also an alarmingly good marksman, considering his obvious disadvantage.

He has a sighted manservant, Parkinson, who he has trained to observe with impartiality, and often accompanies him. He also is assisted by his Secretary, Mr Greatorex.

-

Max Carrados is from a series of mystery stories and books by Ernest Bramah, the first of which was published in 1914. They appeared alongside Sherlock Holmes in the Strand Magazine, in which they often had top billing, and frequently outsold his eminent contemporary at the time.

Several of the stories can be found in an excellent collection of radio plays, read by Arthur Darvill.

[hedonistbyheart]

I think I found the watsonian inspiration for the name "Dead boy detectives" ♡

Let's ignore that Max can momentarily read notes lol oops