The Red Lamp
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Read by Zach Hoyt
William A. Porter, professor of English, inherits a large seaside house from his Uncle Horace. He is not fully satisfied with the explanation of his uncle's death. He moves to the lodge for the following summer with his wife and niece, and rents out the main house. Mysterious and sinister things begin to happen at night in the neighborhood. Local superstitions center around a red lamp in the house which some believe exerts a baleful influence. The professor must try to find out what is going on without himself becoming the center of suspicion. (Summary by Zach Hoyt) (7 hr 5 min)
Chapters
| Introduction by William A. Porter | 8:25 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| William A. Porter's Journal, June 16-21 | 23:12 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, June 22-27 | 26:46 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, June 28-July 2 | 24:24 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, July 3-6 | 25:59 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, July 7-14 | 31:55 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, July 15-18 | 24:00 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, July 19-24 | 21:28 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, July 25-29 | 27:07 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, July 30-August 5 | 25:50 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, August 6-13 | 24:14 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, August 14-16 | 26:21 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, August 17-23 | 24:39 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, August 24-31 | 21:27 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, September 1-5 | 16:45 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Journal, September 6-10 | 26:48 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Conclusion, Chapter 1 | 6:14 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Conclusion, Chapter 2 | 6:18 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Conclusion, Chapter 3 | 15:06 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
| Conclusion, Chapter 4 | 18:13 | Read by Zach Hoyt |
Reviews
Deserves more credit than previous reviews give
SaraKathryn
Okay so here’s the thing: Mary Roberts Rinehart is my favorite author. When I saw on the LibriVox forums that “The Red Lamp” was a project in progress, it genuinely made my day and gave me something to look forward to for several weeks. Thank you to everyone who worked on this project, seriously. The reader was fine. Not great, not terrible, just fine. I have heard a few LibriVox readers who are *significantly* worse than this one and even some of them grew on me after a while, so I was not too fazed by his intonation and speed. In fact, I came to enjoy it. I found that slowing the speed down did help quite a bit. I’m honestly grateful there’s another MRR audiobook out there for free, so I’d give this reader a pass and just suggest he work on female voices. As for the story, it’s another slow and steady mystery that I, personally, have come to appreciate. It has that summer vacation in the 1920s vibe like “The Circular Staircase.” I would say it’s more plot-driven than character-driven, like “The Circular Staircase.” Is “The Red Lamp” MRR’s best work? No, but it’s worth listening to if you really like her works. Both the book and the reader deserve more credit than the previous reviews give them. I’d give this audiobook 3.5 stars, which I am rounding up to 4.
Slow the reading WAY down to enjoy
Sandyjeans
Odd Story
Julia D
The reader is not my favourite but is much easier to understand if you slow down the listening speed. The story was meh. It felt like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a supernatural or actual mystery. If it was supposed to be creepy I certainly wasn't feeling it.
KAB
Good story. I disagree with those who think the reader isn't great. The voices he used are more suited to a Thornton Burgess story than this one, but they worked, and overall I think his reading suites the mystery genre very well.
Julie leech
Very good book. But I could NOT understand the reader at all
Kees
Zonde van zijn tijd. Breid alle woorden aan elkaar
I can't listen to this reader
Ridge Runner
listen to
A LibriVox Listener
I lasted less than 60 seconds because I HATE the reader!!!!!! His voice is NOT SUITABLE for reading!!!! I wish these bad readers, wouldn't be accepted because, many of them have ruined the stories for others!! The fact that this service is free, is totally irrelevant!! The volunteers can either do the job properly or not do it at all!!