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The Greek Symbol Mystery |
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 |
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Culprits |
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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 |
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Key clues |
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Nancy's outfits |
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Bess shops |
gold pin of mask and bagsful of other items from
monastiraki |
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
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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 |
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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. |
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Tammi (Finnish) artwork
by Pentti Ajanto: similar scene to Baker
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Tammi (Finnish) artwork by Pentti Kareinen: similar scene to Sanderson |
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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.
© 2002, 2003, 2012 Lea Shangraw Fox