When Martin Smith's "Gypsy in Amber" was published,… it made a strong impression, an impression now reinforced by "Canto for a Gypsy."… Roman Grey, the gypsy antiques dealer who is the hero of Smith's series, is to the gypsy world what Harry Kemelman's Rabbi David Small is to Judaism. Both solve crimes that confront them; both are walking encyclopedias about their people and their way of life and thought. And all this is not supererogatory; it is germane to the mystery at hand and helps solve it….

Smith is a smooth operator. He plots well, maintains tension, and creates believable characters. There is an underlying menace in his books that hits at the racial subconscious. Gypsies, tea-leaves, reading the future, forgotten mysteries of mankind: nonsense, we say. Except that after putting down "Canto for a Gypsy," our superior smile may be a little weaker. Smith hits very hard...