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Nocturnal TalesMystery audiobooks for quiet evenings

The Tragedy at Brookbend Cottage

by Ernest Bramah

Classic mysteryNo. 23555 minMax Carrados

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Tonight, the case widely held to be the finest Max Carrados ever appeared in — and one of the most quietly frightening stories of its decade. A young naval lieutenant comes to the blind detective with something he cannot prove and cannot forget. His sister Millicent is married to a man named Creake: cold, careful, and thoroughly unpleasant. And the lieutenant is convinced — on evidence that would make any policeman laugh — that Creake intends to kill her. There is no crime to investigate. Nothing has happened yet. That is precisely the problem. Carrados is not being asked to solve a murder. He is being asked to stop one, without a shred of proof that would satisfy a magistrate, against a man who has arranged things so carefully that when his wife dies it will look like an act of God. So a blind man walks the lane past a lonely cottage. He counts his paces. He listens to the wires overhead. And he works out exactly how it is meant to be done. FOR LISTENERS This is a complete, unabridged reading of The Tragedy at Brookbend 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 are certain a man intends to kill his wife. You have no evidence, no crime, and nobody in authority will listen. What do you actually do? SUPPORT & LISTENING OPTIONS CREDITS Narrated and produced by Nocturnal Tales. Story by Ernest Bramah (public domain). TAGS / KEYWORDS ernest bramah audiobook, max carrados audiobook, the tragedy at brookbend cottage, blind detective mystery, louis carlyle, preventing a murder story, perfect murder plan, domestic thriller classic, edwardian mystery audiobook, classic detective story audiobook, public domain audiobook, full-length classic audiobook, unabridged classic mystery HASHTAGS

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