by Ernest Bramah
Classic mysteryNo. 2541 hr 1 minMax Carrados
A complete change of key. After signal boxes and railway disasters, this is Ernest Bramah's blind detective in his lightest and most mischievous register, and the title is not ironic. It really is a comedy. Max Carrados telephones the inquiry agent Carlyle at his office one April morning, and Carlyle's face assumes its most amiable expression on recognising his friend's voice — which, if you know these two at all, means he is about to be made a fool of in the most affectionate possible way. What follows involves a young married couple, a small house, a domestic upheaval entirely out of proportion to its cause, and a solution that no serious detective would ever admit to having reached. Nobody dies tonight. There is no theft worth the name and there is no arrest. There is only a household turned upside down by something very small, and a blind man who works the whole thing out from the other end of a telephone line, enjoying himself enormously. Bramah is doing something deliberate here. Having spent a whole collection establishing Carrados as formidable, he turns exactly the same faculties on a domestic muddle. The gift is unchanged. Only the stakes are different. FOR LISTENERS This is a complete, unabridged reading of The Comedy at Fountain Cottage by Ernest Bramah, collected in Max Carrados (1914) and now in the public domain. Every word is the author's own. Part of The Midnight Archive: three nights of classics every week, alongside four original Nocturnal Tales mysteries. YOU CHOOSE WHAT'S NEXT The Archive is deep — more Max Carrados? Loveday Brooke? Violet Strange? Sherlock Holmes? Father Brown? Lady Molly? Raffles? Dr Thorndyke? Arsène Lupin? Vote in the poll attached to this episode, or tell us in the comments which classic you want to hear by lamplight. We chose a gentler evening on purpose — several of you have said the cases without violence are the ones you enjoy most. Would you like more of the Archive's quiet ones? CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 02:00 - Part One 16:19 - Part Two 29:47 - Part Three 43:33 - Part Four SUPPORT & LISTENING OPTIONS ABOUT THIS RECORDING The Comedy at Fountain Cottage by Ernest Bramah (1914) is in the public domain. This recording is the complete, unabridged original text. Narration and production Nocturnal Tales. CREDITS Narrated and produced by Nocturnal Tales. Story by Ernest Bramah (public domain). TAGS / KEYWORDS ernest bramah audiobook, max carrados audiobook, the comedy at fountain cottage audiobook, max carrados 1914 collection, blind detective mystery, cosy mystery audiobook, gentle classic mystery, humorous detective story, edwardian domestic mystery, classic detective story audiobook, public domain audiobook, unabridged classic mystery HASHTAGS
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