Gypsy In Amber by Martin Cruz Smith

Today I read Gypsy in Amber by Martin Cruz Smith.  It was was Martin Cruz Smith's first novel.   I read it as a part of my read everything Smith has written program.  He's a great writer and I have enjoyed his books.  This book is particularly  interesting because it demonstrates how much the author has improved in his later novels.  While it won an award as a best first novel, it is clearly an early work.  The plot has gaps which are unexplained and perhaps unbelievable.  Something that never occurs in his Arkady Renko stories. 

I knew almost nothing about Gypsies.  And I found the story to be a veritable fount of information about the gypsy culture.  So much so, that I wondered if telling the Gypsy culture story sometimes interfered with the primary storyline.