The Greek Symbol Mystery

Nancy Drew #60

The Greek Symbol Mystery

Basic plot: Mrs. Thompson is worried that the Papadapoulos family is not receiving her sponsorship money - the coordinating agency has suddenly gone out of business. Carson is looking for Helen Nicholas’ cousin Constantine to settle the estate of their uncle. Nancy is sent to Greece to locate the previous attorney Mr Vatis. A mask that is stolen from the museum is slipped into Nancy’s purchases from a jewelry shop; there is a gold colored sticker with the Phi doodle on it. Nancy brings it to the Archaeological Museum where she is told it has been stolen (it should be on loan to a US museum). Try to track Constantine at Nikos Shipping Agency as he has disappeared and there are rumors that he has been hanging out with the wrong sort of people and has lost a lot of money.

Click here for chapter by chapter synopsis of the action.

Publisher's summary: Nancy has two mysteries to solve, and the answers lie in the beautiful and exotic country of Greece. Money intended to help a needy village family disappears, and the New York agency responsible for the money closes suddenly. Nancy is asked to fly to Greece to investigate. When she is told that a large inheritance from a Greek tycoon, meant for her friend, Helen Nicholas, was stolen, she agrees to find the culprit. Bess and George join her on this dangerous mission. A poisonous snake in a basket of apples and a strange symbol stamped on a rare Byzantine mask are the clues. They lead Nancy and her friends to a ring of art smugglers and to the secret of the Greek symbol.

Setting

Athens and Corfu, Greece (also NYC), month of June

Recurring Characters

primarily Bess Marvin, George Fayne; also Carson Drew, Hannah Gruen, Ned Nickerson, Burt Eddleton, Dave Evans

Characters

and Suspects

Jeannette Thompson – Drew neighbor, sponsor to the Papadapoulos family

Papadapoulos family (Mr/Mrs, children Maria (age 9), Michali and Anna)

Helen Nicholas - Nikos Shipping Co.

Constantine Nicholas - her bad boy cousin

Lineos Nicholas – uncle to Helen and Constantine (deceased)

Mr. Diakos - Photini Agency, Athens

Mr. Mousiadis – friend of Carson’s (loans a car)

Alexis Hios – lifeguard at Loutraki beach

Stella Anagnost - jewelry shop employee, Costa’s girlfriend

Peter Scourles - former Vitas employee

Fotis – white banded freighter’s captain

Flight attendant and co-pilot for Olympic Airways

Porter at Hotel Skyros

Receptionist at attorney’s office

Small boy who steals Bess’s wallet

Another boy – mistakenly identified as thief

Guard at Herodotus Atticus

2 dock workers in Piraeus

2 sailors (one Greek, one Swedish)

family in village, including daughter Zoe

curator and secretary and guard at Archaeological Museum

grizzly detective

shopkeeper at chrysoteque in Monastiraki

Irum – fake freelancing reporter

Taxi driver

Police in Corfu

Culprits

Dmitri Georgiou aka Dmitri “Mimi” Vatis - Photini Agency, NY, brother of attorney Vatis

Mr. Isakos – smuggler, chauvinist

Mr. Vitas – attorney at Vatis & Vatis

Motivation: stealing Nicholas inheritance and smuggling ancient artifacts

Resolution

Find Constantine at Ayiou Markou monastery. Vatis had forged Constantine’s signature to steal his inheritance. Constantine paid his legal fees with stolen bracelet – had hooked up with bad guys briefly but now is repentant. Vitas and his brother Dmitri link up with smugglers and are caught by Interpol.

Nancy's Mis-adventures

Bess stung by jellyfish

snake in basket of apples

trussed up and placed in barrel at monastery

Nikos freighter leaves berth with girls aboard

wrangle with strikers

accused of stealing mask from museum

forced off narrow road into ditch by oncoming truck

soda knocked over by cat

shoved by Vatis while on rocky precipice

pushed into traffic by Isakos

Key clues

letterhead with Greek Symbol (serpent twisted on itself in the shape of Greek letter phi)

Ayiou Markou - St. Mark’s monastery

Metal stamp with serpentine symbol

Silver money clip with D.V. monogram

DG initials on wall with serpent figure surrounding it

Note dropped by Isakos on plane

Dimitri’s signature

Nancy's outfits

pretty turquoise skirt and blouse

Bess shops

gold pin of mask and bagsful of other items from monastiraki
gold filagree bracelet
embroidered dress (already sold)

Meaning of the title

Greek Symbol (a Phi with body of snake) is the stamp which identified the real artifacts from fake ones being shipped overseas - found on back of mask, metal stamp and cuff bracelet

reward
Helen christens her new yacht the Nancy Drew (a very high honor from a Greek shipping family)

items of interest
Bess is not of Swedish ancestry, that she knows of

Bess wears tea rose perfume

The six sleuths call themselves The Sleuth Snoops

THE COVERS

Wanderer "Arch" cover by Ruth Sanderson: fantasy combination of Nancy holding stolen mask at the Acropolis

Wanderer "Checkerboard" cover by Garin Baker: page 23 - snake planted in anonymous gift basket of yellow apples; George takes an apple and Nancy removes snake with an umbrella

Minstrel cover and Wahlströms (Sweden) cover by Linda Thomas: page 29 - gold mask removed from window in the market

Armada (UK) Format "C" cover by Peter Archer - Nancy struggles with Mr Vatis on the cliffs in Corfu

Hachette (France) Format "J" and Format "K" cover by Jean Parmentier

Vergara (Argentine) cover - utilizes Ruth Sanderson artwork

Fernández (Mexican) cover by copyist: although it is hard to see in the scan above, the Mexican cover has been carefully redrawn based on the Thomas original.

Tammi (Finnish) artwork by Pentti Ajanto: similar scene to Baker

Tammi (Finnish) artwork by Pentti Kareinen: similar scene to Sanderson

Wahlströms (Swedish) cover by Ulla Urkio: similar to Sanderson Forlagshuset (Norwegian) artwork by unknown artist: similar scene to Sanderson

Indira (Indonesian) cover - utilizes Ruth Sanderson artwork (Malay) cover: similar to Baker

THE PRINTINGS

This chronological listing of printings mimics the identification system developed by David Farah for his guide on Nancy Drew. He has given me permission to replicate his system for the purpose of categorizing the paperbacks from this series. For those of you not familiar with his methods for identifying a printing, the first line describes the outside of the book (cover/spine/back cover) and the second line describes the internal pages (inside cover/pre-text pages/post-text pages/inside back cover).

Published:  1981
authors:  Nancy Axelrad
plot outline:  Harriet Adams, Nancy Axelrad

1st
Sanderson/W1/cream on light orange/2.50,42298-7,+
bl/pwt/bl/tp+/cp/tc/bl//bl/Fan ad (wb)/bl/ND#57-60, LC#1-4/bl/bl

2nd	
Sanderson/W1/cream on light orange/2.75,42298-7,+
bl/pwt/bl/tp+/cp/tc/bl//bl/Fan ad (wb)/bl/ND#57-68, LC#1-6/bl/bl

3rd
Sanderson/W1/cream on light orange/2.95,42298-7,+
bl/pwt/bl/tp+/cp/tc/bl//bl/Fan ad 9wb)/bl/ND#57-72 ao, LC#1-9 of/bl/bl

4th
Sanderson/W1/cream on light orange/2.95,42298-7,+
bl/pwt/bl/tp+/cp/tc/bl//bl/ND#57-75 ao of/bl/N#57-72 ao, LC#1-9 of/bl/bl

5th
Baker/W2/two-toned purple/3.50,pic,+,63891-2
bl/exc/ND#57-78/tp/cp/tc/bl//ND#57-78 ao of/RHts CCF/HB#59-85 ao of/DrG#1-6/S&S (16) of/PSc#1-6/SIArch (4)/bl

1st Min	
Thomas/M/dark green/67457-9 (decal)/bl 
UPC/exc/ND#57-87/tp/cp+/tc/bl//HB#59-94 ao of/ND#57-87 ao of/LCA (3) of/MyL (4) of/BF#1-4 of/Min (14)/Min (17) of/bl

FOREIGN TITLES

Language

Foreign Title

Title's translation

French

Alice et le symbole grec

Nancy and the greek symbol

Swedish

Kitty och det gåtfulla ansiktet

Nancy and the mysterious personnage

Norwegian

Detektiv Nancy Drew og det greske mysteriet

Nancy and the greek mystery

Finnish

Neiti etsivä ja salaperäinen kultanaamio

Nancy and the mysterious gold mask

Icelandic

Nancy og griska leynitákniồ

Nancy and Greek secret symbol

Spanish (Argentine ed.)

El misterio del simbolo griego

The mystery of the greek symbol

Spanish (Mexican ed.) El misterio del símbolo griego The mystery of the greek symbol

Malay

Misteri Lambang Greek

The greek symbol

Indonesian Misteri Simbol Yunani The Greek symbol mystery

The Greek Symbol Mystery, artwork by Ruth Sanderson © 1981 by Simon & Schuster, New York.
The Greek Symbol Mystery, artwork by Garin Baker © 1986 by Simon & Schuster, New York.
The Greek Symbol Mystery, artwork by Linda Thomas © 1989 by Simon & Schuster, New York.
The Greek Symbo Mystery, artwork by Peter Archer © 1982 by Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
Alice at le symbole grec, artwork by Jean Parmentier © 1983 by Hachette, Paris.
Kitty och det gåtfulla ansiktet, artwork by Ulla Urkio © 1982 by B. Wahlströms Bokförlag, Stockholm.
Kitty och det gåtfulla ansiktet, artwork by Linda Thomas © 1989 by Simon & Schuster, New York.
El misterio del simbolo griego, artwork by Ruth Sanderson © 1981 by Simon & Schuster, New York.
El misterio del simbolo griego, artwork unattributed © 1993 by Fernández Editories, Mexico City.
Neiti Etsivä ja salaperäinen kultanaamio, artwork by Pentti Kareinen © 1994 by Tammi, Helsinki.
Neiti Etsivä ja salaperäinen kultanaamio, artwork by  Pentti Ajanto © 1983 by Tammi, Helsinki.
Detektiv Nancy Drew och det greske mysteriet, artwork unattributed © by Forlagshuset A/S, Oslo.
Misteri Lambang Greek, artwork unattributed  ©  1987 by Hasratpelajar, Kuala Lumpur.
Misteri Simbol Yunani, artwork by Ruth Sanderson © 1981 by Simon & Schuster, New York.

Setting	Athens and Corfu, Greece (also NYC), month of June
Recurring Characters	primarily Bess Marvin, George Fayne; also Carson Drew, Hannah Gruen, Ned Nickerson, Burt Eddleton, Dave Evans
Characters and Suspects	Jeannette Thompson – Drew neighbor, sponsor to the Papadapoulos family Papadapoulos family (Mr/Mrs, children Maria (age 9), Michali and Anna) Helen Nicholas - Nikos Shipping Co. Constantine Nicholas - her bad boy cousin Lineos Nicholas – uncle to Helen and Constantine (deceased) Mr. Diakos - Photini Agency, Athens Mr. Mousiadis – friend of Carson’s (loans a car) Alexis Hios – lifeguard at Loutraki beach Stella Anagnost - jewelry shop employee, Costa’s girlfriend Peter Scourles - former Vitas employee Fotis – white banded freighter’s captain Flight attendant and co-pilot for Olympic Airways Porter at Hotel Skyros Receptionist at attorney’s office Small boy who steals Bess’s wallet Another boy – mistakenly identified as thief Guard at Herodotus Atticus 2 dock workers in Piraeus 2 sailors (one Greek, one Swedish) family in village, including daughter Zoe curator and secretary and guard at Archaeological Museum grizzly detective shopkeeper at chrysoteque in Monastiraki Irum – fake freelancing reporter Taxi driver Police in Corfu
Culprits	Dmitri Georgiou aka Dmitri “Mimi” Vatis - Photini Agency, NY, brother of attorney Vatis Mr. Isakos – smuggler, chauvinist Mr. Vitas – attorney at Vatis & Vatis Motivation: stealing Nicholas inheritance and smuggling ancient artifacts
Resolution	Find Constantine at Ayiou Markou monastery. Vatis had forged Constantine’s signature to steal his inheritance. Constantine paid his legal fees with stolen bracelet – had hooked up with bad guys briefly but now is repentant. Vitas and his brother Dmitri link up with smugglers and are caught by Interpol.
Nancy's Mis-adventures	Bess stung by jellyfish snake in basket of apples trussed up and placed in barrel at monastery Nikos freighter leaves berth with girls aboard wrangle with strikers accused of stealing mask from museum forced off narrow road into ditch by oncoming truck soda knocked over by cat shoved by Vatis while on rocky precipice pushed into traffic by Isakos
Key clues	letterhead with Greek Symbol (serpent twisted on itself in the shape of Greek letter phi) Ayiou Markou - St. Mark’s monastery Metal stamp with serpentine symbol Silver money clip with D.V. monogram DG initials on wall with serpent figure surrounding it Note dropped by Isakos on plane Dimitri’s signature
Nancy's outfits	pretty turquoise skirt and blouse
Bess shops	gold pin of mask and bagsful of other items from monastiraki gold filagree bracelet embroidered dress (already sold)
Meaning of the title	Greek Symbol (a Phi with body of snake) is the stamp which identified the real artifacts from fake ones being shipped overseas - found on back of mask, metal stamp and cuff bracelet
reward	Helen christens her new yacht the Nancy Drew (a very high honor from a Greek shipping family)
items of interest	Bess is not of Swedish ancestry, that she knows of Bess wears tea rose perfume The six sleuths call themselves The Sleuth Snoops


Wanderer "Arch" cover by Ruth Sanderson: fantasy combination of Nancy holding stolen mask at the Acropolis	Wanderer "Checkerboard" cover by Garin Baker: page 23 - snake planted in anonymous gift basket of yellow apples; George takes an apple and Nancy removes snake with an umbrella

Minstrel cover and Wahlströms (Sweden) cover by Linda Thomas: page 29 - gold mask removed from window in the market

Armada (UK) Format "C" cover by Peter Archer - Nancy struggles with Mr Vatis on the cliffs in Corfu

Hachette (France) Format "J" and Format "K" cover by Jean Parmentier

Vergara (Argentine) cover - utilizes Ruth Sanderson artwork	Fernández (Mexican) cover by copyist: although it is hard to see in the scan above, the Mexican cover has been carefully redrawn based on the Thomas original.

Tammi (Finnish) artwork by Pentti Ajanto: similar scene to Baker	Tammi (Finnish) artwork by Pentti Kareinen: similar scene to Sanderson

Wahlströms (Swedish) cover by Ulla Urkio: similar to Sanderson	Forlagshuset (Norwegian) artwork by unknown artist: similar scene to Sanderson

Indira (Indonesian) cover - utilizes Ruth Sanderson artwork	(Malay) cover: similar to Baker

Language	Foreign Title	Title's translation
French	Alice et le symbole grec	Nancy and the greek symbol
Swedish	Kitty och det gåtfulla ansiktet	Nancy and the mysterious personnage
Norwegian	Detektiv Nancy Drew og det greske mysteriet	Nancy and the greek mystery
Finnish	Neiti etsivä ja salaperäinen kultanaamio	Nancy and the mysterious gold mask
Icelandic	Nancy og griska leynitákniồ	Nancy and Greek secret symbol
Spanish (Argentine ed.)	El misterio del simbolo griego	The mystery of the greek symbol
Spanish (Mexican ed.)	El misterio del símbolo griego	The mystery of the greek symbol
Malay	Misteri Lambang Greek	The greek symbol
Indonesian	Misteri Simbol Yunani	The Greek symbol mystery