The priceless Royal Crown of Hungary was on display in St Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Guarded by many, including the NYPD and the gypsy, Roman Grey, a heist was impossible. But it happened, and murder, mayhem and all hell broke loose... From the inside flap A new suspense thriller featuring Roman Grey, the captivating Gypsy who made his debut in Gypsy in Amber, cited by the New York Times Book Review as "one of the year's best" and nominated by the Mystery Writers of America as one of the best first mystery novels of 1971. When Saint Stephen's Crown (the Royal Crown of Hungary) is set for display at St. Patrick's Cathedral before being returned to Budapest, church authorities, the NYPD, and the UN persuade antique dealer and goldsmith Roman Grey to assume responsibility for the priceless relic. He understands all too well why he was picked for the job: As a Gypsy with no powerful friends, he's the perfect scapegoat should the crown disappear. Knowing that a group of fervent anti-Communist Hungarian-Americans and an ex-Nazi art thief are equally intent on waylaying the crown, Roman demands that his personal friend, Police Sergeant Isadore, help with security. As he works to protect the priceless crown—a treasure that triggers the best efforts of forgers, counterfeiters, and a brutal killer—Roman uncovers a shocking secret that has laid dormant for centuries.

A murder threatens to force the police into a confrontation with New York's gypsy community. The cops are determined to pin the blame on a gypsy. But Roman Grey knows there is more to the case than the convenient closing of a crime file, and vows to bring the truly guilty to justice.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. From the inside flap Sorcery, folklore, and black magic are at the dark heart of a grisly murder forcing a confrontation between Gypsies and police that neither side—nor the reader—will be able to forget. When a Gypsy dies in a two-car collision that scatters a woman's dismembered body on the George Washington Bridge, the dead Gypsy driver, Nanoosh, is the Police Department's prime murder suspect. But Roman Grey, Gypsy antique dealer and owner of the car, is outraged that the authorities are trying to pin yet another crime on the Gypsy community. Knowing that although his people have little respect for non-Gypsy laws they are not murderers, Roman begins his own investigation, realizing that there is more than a rational explanation behind the killing. Armed only with Gypsy intuition and his knowledge of sorcery, he sets out to meet an unknown and deadly foe in a spellbinding climax. Reviews "'Gypsy in Amber'" is an unusual book, and an awfully good one. It builds relentlessly to a concentration of evil, and is full of sharp observations.... 'Gypsy in Amber' is one of the year's best."—New York Times "A delightful digression from the mystery pattern.... Gypsy lore and customs are woven into the background, adding exotic embroidery to a good story."—Publishers Weekly "'Gypsy in Amber' by Martin Smith is a fascinating murder mystery with a gypsy background and easily proves itself one of the most engrossing and original whodunits of the year... a suspenseful and exciting climax to a most unusual story."—Chapel Hill (N.C.) Weekly "'Gypsy in Amber' is one of the better detective stories around this season.... The reader is left hoping that this will not be the only appearance of a new and very different detective."—Long Beach (Calif.) Independent Press-Telegram