*2.5
stephen fry was the best thing about this, even though i'm getting weary of his voice. (i would never have thought this possible, i guess i just listened through too many hours of the sherlock holmes compilation).

the coin of dionysos
although carrados certainly could not have solved this one without a bloody whole lot of luck, it is a very nice introduction to this very special character. i do not know how many stories with disabled main characters i have read (certainly not many) and this is a story about a blind detective - what an interesting idea! it might not be quite anti-ableist, for sure, but especially for its time, it must have been quite outstanding.

a game played in the dark
an interesting concept, but too little explanation. where did the inspector suddenly come from? also, not quite realistic, but who cares.

after this i could no be bothered anymore.
carrados seems somewhat incoherent as a character, he has his nice abilities to more than compensate his sight with his other senses, but it makes no sense to me when, why and how it does work and when it doesn't. it's just a new mystery in every short story. then there are also barely any other recognisable or individual, interesting characters. there are no pictures (which always helped me with sherlock) and somehow no rituals, no consistency, and i often felt like things were underexplained or had absolutely no idea what was happening if i was a little less concentrated for a second (which i think says more about the credibility, probability and coherence of the solutions than about its sophistication). i do understand why sherlock has been sticking around better.
the futuristic elements were funny to see from a point of view of "the future", but the plague thing was quite ridiculous (although cute and somewhat eye-opening).
all in all: not a fan, have read worse.