Max Carrados

You know Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street.
Now meet… Max Carrados of The Turrets, Richmond

"Together with those of Conan Doyle and R. Austin Freeman, [Max Carrados] are the only detective stories since Poe that are worth re-reading."
George Orwell - A Kind of Compulsion (1903-1936)

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, the usefulness of consulting detectives in the war against crime was very well established by Mr. Sherlock Holmes. By the early Twentieth Century, Holmes had retired to Sussex, and the void he left behind in London was capably filled by a number of other noted criminal specialists: Solar Pons, Hercule Poirot, Dr. John Thorndyke, Father Brown, Albert Campion, and Lord Peter Wimsey, to name a few. But another who made a name for himself with his unique skills tends to receive less attention today: Max Carrados.

The first Carrados short story, "The Coin of Dionysius" was published in the August 17th, 1913 issue of News of the World - and the world was introduced to the masterful blind sleuth.

From 1913 to 1934, mystery readers were treated to Carrados' published adventures in the form of twenty-six short stories and one full-length novel. In his time, Carrados was one of the most popular detectives in literature. The July 1924 issue of The Strand contained a new Sherlock Holmes story - but it was the announcement of a new Carrados adventure that decorated the magazine's cover.

As a young man, Carrados was blinded in an accident, but instead of retreating from life, he trained himself so that his remaining senses were more powerful and discerning than those around him. Additionally, Carrados had a keen understanding of his fellow man, and the ability to make deductions from the data he perceived in a Holmesian manner that always led to successful solutions.

Inheriting a fortune from a distant relative, Carrados could afford to pursue his investigatory interests.