Gypsy in Amber

Roman Grey #1

by Martin Cruz Smith

When you are a gypsy who was raised by non-gypsies, you have an identity problem. When you are a gypsy, an antique dealer, and you've been entrusted with a very old highboy in which a dead body is discovered, you have a major problem.

Sorcery and the dark sciences lie at the heart of a terrible murder that threatens to force the police into a confrontation with New York's gypsy community. However, Roman Grey decides to unearth the truth about the killing, whatever the cost.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

177 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Martin Cruz Smith (AKA Simon Quinn, Nick Carter, Jake Logan, and Martin Quinn) was an American writer of mystery and suspense fiction, mostly in an international or historical setting. He was best known for his 11-book series featuring Russian investigator Arkady Renko, who was introduced in 1981 with Gorky Park and appeared in Independence Square (2023) and Hotel Ukraine (2025). [Wikipedia]

Reviews

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasure to read. This mystery boasts spare prose (!), memorable characters (*gasp*), and actual plot development (*reader faints away*). These are in rare supply amongst most modern mystery writers, I know, even though the mystery genre initially depended on character and plot. So enjoy the skill of a real craftsman on display in this novel. His Arkady Renko series is rated very highly but I enjoyed this one even more.

[Lemar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Cruz Smith wrote two mystery novels featuring a Roma antique dealer named Roman Grey. They both delve deeply into the fascinating culture of this ancient people. The character is unique and compelling, the research superb and never feels like an info dump but rather salts the novel with interesting and relevant clues.
I am a fan of the Arkady Renko novels for which Cruz Smith (here writing as Martin Smith)became famous but these early efforts do not disappoint. In addition to his well crafted language and metaphor is a rock solid ability to build characters.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Martin Cruz Smith is literally my favorite author. So, when I found an copy of this at a flea market I was overjoyed. However, after reading it, I'm kind of wishing I wasn't so lucky. The book has a quirky sarcastic lead, like Arkady Renko, but beyond that there are little to no similarity to the Renko series which is utter gold. This is a just a writer learning and perfecting his craft. Just part of the process but sadly, a part I could have skipped.

[Charles Kerns · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice try. First book for writer who got better, put a Cruz in his name (my edition listed author as Martin Smith), and got rich trashing the Ruskies. The book feels like a half year's research on gypsies and antiques packaged in a freeway body-confusion mystery. It tried.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Martin Cruz Smith's first mystery. I found it very enjoyable. The main character Roman Gray is Gypsy or Rom. If Smith had continued in this series the character would have been fleshed out and developed more over time. As it is we just get a hint of what we are going to miss out on. The next and last in the series is CANTO FOR A GYPSY and it is hard to come by.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A debut novel that packed a lot into a small amount of pages. Published back in 1971 this book explored antiques and gypsy culture along with providing a suspenseful plot.

[David]

Some interesting twists to this 'whodunit.' The actual killer is about three levels down in the narrative. Sadly, we have another female character from the school of "Yeah I know he's ruined my father and he's a murderer and he's raped me and he's impregnated me and I've watched him kill and torture other people but I'm carrying his baby so I still love him. Don't hurt him, please, I'm begging you" heroines. At least this one wasn't written by a woman post-2000.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romani community often referred to as gypsies plays a key role in this book. What appears to be a simple crime that doesn't warrant a second look turns out to have layers upon layers. NYC detective has a Romani contact who is an antique dealer. However, that hardly describes who he is and how may connections he has in the Romani and antique communities. Romani prefer to solve their own problems and not help non-Romani authorities. Roman Grey helps the NYC detective in a round-about way. As you read see if you can identify who the killer or killers are.

[Bob Koelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to totally lift a review from Amazon.com, written by "ljs":
"I am a fan of Martin Cruz Smith. I think he is one of the most compelling story tellers writing today. However, this book is disorienting for me. It doesn't measure up to the quality of the Arkady Renko books or others like Tokyo Station. Gypsy in Amber presumes knowledge and interest on the part of the reader, without a reason why that should be. What it makes explicit, it repeats until the excitement is gone. The action seems a bit unintuitive and disjointed, but perhaps that is just the way I read it.... There is a lot of exposition of Gypsy culture which becomes pedantic after a while. It displaces action and interest. This is an earlier Cruz Smith book, so at least I can see that a great story teller has a starting point that is not up to his mature work."

[Annette]

Lately I'm forgetting so much of what I read, and I guess that's how life goes for some folks....

There are two scenes here that I'll definitely remember, ... for a while at least!

1) Roman's visit to the home of the antique dealer and his explanations about verifying antiques.

2) Poor old Roman, struggling through the woods, sometimes in the dark, with a dead goat tied to his back!

I also enjoyed the Romany language, although I couldn't find translations of many of the phrases online....

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Here's Martin Smith before he added the Cruz. Who knew? A well crafted, exquisitely written mystery with a fascinating setting, vivid characters, and surprising plot twists. The novel is a bit dated, but still holds up well. Cruz Smith can write, as proven over and over with his Arkady Renko series, but here you get to see him in a different genre. Brilliant, and only 70,000 or 80,000 words. Thank you library for indexing Martin Smith under the proper author.

[Shomeret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I was interested in reading a mystery in which the detective is a gypsy. The gypsy cultural content was wonderful and seemed very authentic based on what I've read about the Rom peoples. Roman Grey is a great character with an unexpected background. I thought he was like Jonathan Gash's Lovejoy if he had been a gypsy.

[Asha Stark · Rating 2 out of 5]

An alright book that's held it's own against the passing of forty years since it was first published. Run of the mill murder mystery, but with added ambiguous feelings to Rroma- I genuinely don't know whether the entire book was a pisstake of the culture, or whether the author was trying to make some kind of statement about it. I'm leaning heavily towards the former though.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got hooked on Martin Cruz Smith with Gorky Park and the rest of the Arkady Renko series, but I've since read many of his other historical fiction novels and enjoyed them all. He's back with another unique detective in the Gypsy named Roman Grey. Culture and mystery. Great storytelling. Looking forward to Canto for a Gypsy and the new Renko.

[Dorothy Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a glimpse into Romany culture-- high moral standards within the culture, but stealing and defrauding non-Gypsies regarded as virtues. Roman Grey is a compelling character, but the villain's motive was not explained to my satisfaction.

[George King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story by a young writer

[Phil Lawless · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little slow starting (having to give the gypsy details) but a barn burner most of the rest of the way. Too bad Smith didn't continue this character in more novels.

[Mailmanr5 · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of his early works. Pretty good.

[Bob Shadel · Rating 4 out of 5]

entertaining and somewhat different book of Gypsies. Smith as usual is creative and consistent in entertaining. Not as deep or developed as some of his other books but still ok.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a perfect book, but fun to read. First time I've seen a gypsy amateur detective. I've always read Smith's books based in Russia, but this one was based in New York and New England.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

the first half of this book was interesting and could have ended at that point. the second half of the book really dates it with an excursion into 70s' hippies.

[Carolyn Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting character and I learned a lot.

[Alien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cruz Smith kennt man von der Renko-Reihe, die deutlich aus dem endlosen Ozean von Krimis herausrag.
Hier sein Debut-Roman. Hauptperson ist ein Zigeuner, der sich vollständig als solcher identifiziert, auch wenn er halb in der Welt der Außenstehenden lebt. So hat er eine Freundin, die keine Zegeunerin ist und arbeitet als Antiquitätenhändler. Er wird in einen Fall verwickelt, wo bei einem Autounfall mit einem seiner Lieferanten die Leiche einer jungen Frau gefunden wird.

Der Roman hat einen ironischen, leichten Tonfall, der mir etwas unpassend schien, schließlich wird gleich am Anfang eine zerstückelte Leiche gefunden.
Man lernt einiges übers Zigeuner-sein (wobei man ja bei einem fiktiven Werk vorsichtig sein muss, das 1:1 als Fakten ins eigene Allgemeinwissen zu übernehmen).
Super-bemerkenswert fand ich den Krimi jetzt noch nicht.
Es gibt noch einen zweiten Roman mit derselben Hauptperson. Wenn ich ihn zufällig in die Finger kriege, werde ich ihn schon lesen, aber hinterher rennen werde ich nicht.

[WittysLagoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal review for memory jog....

I have read most of MCS and must admit that I liked Rose and Stallion Gate more than the action series with Arkady and Roman Gray.

The parts of this book that reflect Gypsy culture and interactions, the tight family bonds, the long history that renders them careless of the laws of the temporary country they are in, are fascinating. On the other hand, there is some disquiet in being confronted with a young woman found dismembered into 9 parts at the scene of an accident, one involving a Gypsy transporter of stolen antiques for Roman.

The story becomes even darker with the involvement of a group of Gypsy wannabes, who it turns out is led by a psychotic, and the daughter of a Boston antique dealer, and the escape from one harrowing situation to another, with a dramatic conclusion.

An easy read, but not without some resistance to the author as deus ex machina.

[Dan Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

While he has not totally disavowed his early work, Mr. Smith's website does not list such early efforts as "The Indians Won" and the Gypsy books. Fair enough, but he does list "Fish Story" with the advisory that it is probably only for devotees. Well, I happen to like to read the early work of authors and see how they have matured and changed. Maybe I am a devotee? Fortunately, many such pieces are well worth the effort. This is one such book.
Besides the mystery and crime material, "Gypsy in Amber" is chock full of information about antiques and Gypsy lore and practices. Wonderful background; hard-won research for a guy born in Reading, PA (where I live), and good stuff to pad out a short novel. The key is that Romano Grey is both an antiques dealer and a Gypsy graced with a policeman friend.
Recommended.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Interesting plot that became a bit ridiculous in the latter part of the book.
The writing was not very mature, but this is MCS's first book, published in 1971 (and later books I've read are fabulous).
The abrupt change midway through the book left me feeling disoriented. I don't know whether this is due to my brain or the story, so I'll leave it at that. But I did wonder if somehow a section -- equivalent to an episode if this had been a TV series -- had been left out of the ebook I read. I suppose I'll have to read a print copy now, just to check!

[Joyce Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different

This is the one book by Cruz Smith I had not read and one that departs from his Russian themes. Certainly gypsies are interesting but I was a little skeptical about how much knowledge this character had. I almost also wish the book had included a reference dictionary for the Roma words. That said the story missed the mark for me in two aspects. How did he figure out who the killer was, how did he know where to find him? Only in the last couple pages was motive briefly revealed so that felt a little week. As for author well it's hard to top Gorky Park.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

My last read this year was terrific. Martin Cruz Smith is a marvelous writer and I'm so glad I discovered 2 of his earliest books, Gypsy in Amber being the first of 2 thrillers with Roman Grey, a member of the Romas and a very smart hero. He's an antiquarian who really knows his stuff. When a good friend and fellow Gypsy is killed in a car crash, Roman is asked to help the police figure out why a dismembered body of a woman is found in his friend's truck. A lot of description of Gypsy lifestyle, mores and manners. Very interesting. Recommend.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1971, this book precedes Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko series by a decade. This book, though good, does not match the level of craftsmanship in the Renko series. It's interesting from the perspective that it shows us the writer before he really found his stride and his muse. He's getting his chops ready for the brilliant writing that would come out of him 10 years later. In my opinon, Martin Cruz Smith is one of the greatest writers around. A master of the craft. This one is definitely worth reading, but I'd read the Arkady Renko series first.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was Martin Cruz Smith’s first book. To me, the sparse prose read like a poor translation and the writing seemed awkward in places. Luckily, he got better at it with his later books. Interesting for its Romani culture lessons.