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Mews Paperbacks


Mews was a short-lived imprint of New English Library that predominantly published 'series' books. I compiled most of this bibliography myself from my own copies, with some googling around to fill gaps. Wikipedia and other websites were useful to look behind pseudonyms.


Attar the Merman

This series by Robert Graham, a pseudonym of the Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author, Joe Haldeman, were originally published in the USA by Pocket Books in 1975. It follows the adventures of an ecologically aware merman action hero working for the CIA, two years before the TV show The Man from Atlantis.

The second and final book in the series was War of Nerves.

  1. Attar's Revenge (Mar 1977)


The Big Brain

This series by Gary Brandner, the author of The Howling, was originally published in the USA by Zebra in 1975. It features Colin Garrett, a superhero with a massive IQ.

The series ran to a third book, Energy Zero.

  1. The Aardvark Affair (May 1976)
  2. The Beelzebub Business (Aug 1976)


Cage

This series by Alan Riefe was published by Popular Library in the USA in 1975. It follows the revenge of super sleuth Huntington Cage and his identical twin brother on those who killed his best friend and wife.

The series ran to six books, the rest being The Black Widower, The Silver Puma, The Bullet-Proof Man and The Killer with the Golden Touch.

Thanks to Shane Agnew for the first image.

  1. The Lady Killers (Nov 1976)
  2. The Conspirators (Mar 1977)


Carolus Deene

While Death of a Bovver Boy seems to have been published by Mews to tie into New English Library's skinhead craze, it's actually the 23rd and last in a series by Leo Bruce, a pseudonym for Rupert Croft-Cooke, about Carolus Deene, a senior history master and amateur detective.

The series began in 1955 with At Death's Door.

  1. Death of a Bovver Boy (Sep 1976)


Churchill's Vixens

This series by Leslie McManus, one of many pseudonyms for the massively prolific James Moffatt, set female special agents against the Third Reich.

It was an original series for Mews, so no further volumes were written.

  1. The Breton Butcher (Apr 1976)
  2. The Belgian Fox (Jul 1976)
  3. The Leaning Maiden (Sep 1976)
  4. The Viking Maiden (unknown date)


F.A.T.E.

This science fiction series by Gregory Kern, a pseudonym of the prolific E. C. Tubb, who was best known for the even longer Dumarest series, was originally published by DAW as Cap Kennedy but was retitled by Mews. The series, originally published between 1973 to 1976, ran to 17 books, though the last only saw print in German until 1983.

Further volumes included The Gholan Gate, The Eater of Worlds, Earth Enslaved, Planet of Dread, Spawn of Laban, The Genetic Buccaneer, A World Aflame, The Ghosts of Epidoris, Mimics of Dephene, Beyond the Galactic Lens and The Galactiad.

  1. Galaxy of the Lost (Apr 1976)
  2. Slave Ship from Sergan (May 1976)
  3. Monster of Metelaze (Jun 1976)
  4. Enemy Within the Skull (Jul 1976)
  5. Jewel of Jarhen (Sep 1976)
  6. Seetee Alert! (Oct 1976)


The New Adventures of Frankenstein

This horror series by the multi-talented Donald F. Glut is self-explanatory. Mews published the first two volumes, then New English Library took over with the next two, Bones of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Meets Dracula.

Further titles, published by Castle of Frankenstein in what look like magazine editions, include Frankenstein vs. the Werewolf, Frankenstein in the Lost World, Frankenstein in the Mummy's Tomb, Return of Frankenstein, Frankenstein and the Curse of Dr. Jekyll, Tales of Frankenstein, Frankenstein and the Evil of Dracula and Frankenstein: The Final Horror, which wasn't published until Pulp 2.0 Press collected all these into two massive tomes.

  1. Frankenstein Lives Again (Jan 1977)
  2. Terror of Frankenstein (Feb 1977)


The Girl Factory

This spy-fy series by Robert Franklin Murphy, featuring a kick-ass Chinese female martial artist called Su-Lin Kelly, was originally published in the USA by Zebra.

It ran to a third novel, The Man-Made Woman.

  1. The Girl Factory (Aug 1976)
  2. King's Mate (unknown date)


Horror Anthologies

The Unknown Tales of Terror series of short horror stories edited by prolific anthologist Peter Haining was continued on by other publishers. This first volume was originally published in hardback by Sidgwick & Jackson, but future books would vary publishers. The Craft of Terror was also a reprint, bizarrely of a NEL title from a decade earlier.

  1. First Book of Unknown Tales of Terror (Oct 1976)
  2. The Craft of Terror (unknown date) edited by Peter Haining


James Gunn

While this original western series by John Delaney was continued by New English Library, it actually splits neatly into two eras as Delaney was a house name. Peter Cave wrote the first three, which were published by Mews, and Donald S. Rowland wrote the last three, Blood Brand, Oregon Outrage and Lawless Land, at least one of which was published by Mews. The rest may have been published by NEL.

  1. The Deadly Stranger (Apr 1976)
  2. Silver for a Bullet (1976)
  3. Hard Bounty (Oct 1976)
  4. Blood Brand (1977)


John Eagle, Expeditor

This men's adventure series by Paul Edwards was originally published in the USA by Pyramid and ran to 14 volumes. Again, the author is a house name, with Manning Lee Stokes writing #1, #2 and #4 and Robert Lory #3 and #5 in the Mews numbering. However they published The Laughing Death out of order, as it's really the third book in the series not the fifth.

It continued on with The Glyphs of Gold, The Ice Goddess, The Death Devils, The Deadly Cyborgs, The Holocaust Auction, Poppies of Death, The Green Goddess, Operation Weatherkill and Silverskull.

  1. Needles of Death (unknown date)
  2. The Brain Scavengers (unknown date)
  3. The Fist of Fatima (Jul 1976)
  4. Valley of Vultures (Sep 1976)
  5. The Laughing Death (1976)


The Satan Sleuth

This black magic series by the massive prolific Michael Avallone was originally published in the USA by Warner. Again, Mews published out of order as Devil, Devil is really the third in the series, after The Werewolf Walks Tonight.

  1. Fallen Angel (Apr 1976)
  2. Devil, Devil (Jun 1976)


Science Fiction Anthologies

There were two Mews collections of "science fiction by award winning authors" edited by Charles N. Brown, the founder of Locus magazine, though no series was identified.

  1. Far Travellers (unknown date)
  2. Alien Worlds (Nov 1976)


Slave novels

While there was never a series name, Mews published three obviously similar novels by Norman Gant about the slave trade, clearly part of an attempt on the behalf of New English Library to capture the market created by Pan with the Mandingo books.

  1. Black Scarab (unknown date)
  2. Slave Empire (Oct 1976)
  3. Slave Queen (unknown date)


Spider

While most of the Mews series were reprints of American books, they were at least relatively contemporary. The exception were the four books in The Spider series by Grant Stockbridge, which were reprints of recent books published in the USA by Pocket but really edited and modernised versions of stories published in the pulps.

The Spider debuted in 1933 as competition to The Shadow. The four Mews books were originally published in Nov 1935, Jun 1935, Jan 1935 and Jan 1942. Stockbridge was a house name, but these four were all written by Norvell W. Page, the most frequent author of The Spider.

  1. Death Reign of the Vampire King (unknown date)
  2. Hordes of the Red Butcher (May 1976)
  3. The City Destroyer (Jun 1976)
  4. Death and the Spider (Sep 1976)


The Truckers

This trucking thriller series was another original for Mews that was written by Guy Smith, without the middle initial of N. that distinguished most of his novels. At this point he had written as many children's books for NEL and soft porn in magazine format for Tabor, but only seven horror novels.

  1. The Black Knights (Feb 1977)
  2. Hi-Jack! (Mar 1977)


War Novels

These two old war novels by Delano Stagg, a pseudonym for Mel R. Sabre and Paul Eiden, don't look like they're a series but they might be. They were originally published by Monarch Books in 1959 and 1961.

Thanks to Shane Agnew for the first image.

  1. The Glory Jumpers (Nov 1976)
  2. Bloody Beaches (Jan 1977)


Westerns

These two westerns by Ray Hogan don't look like they're a series either but it looks like they were presented as one.

  1. Marshal without a Badge (1976)
  2. Trail of the Fresno Kid (1976)


Non Series

While Mews existed to publish series, the following look like standalone novels.

  1. The Ghost Writer (Jul 1976), a spiritual horror novel by by Diana Carter, originally published by Cassell.
  2. The House on the Drive (Feb 1977), a gothic by Bettina Kingsley, originally published by Dell.
  3. The Legend of Sawney Bean (Nov 1976), a non-fiction account of the legendary Scots cannibal by Ronald Holmes.
  4. U-Boat 202 (Aug 1976), perhaps a non-fiction war story by Lieutenant-Commander Freiherr Von Spiegel.


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Last update: 29th September, 2020