Sign-In
Cart
Cockloft: The Jack Mercer Files
Paperback
Series: The Jack Mercer Files, Book 8
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Sep 29 2026
Pages: 406
Weight: 1.19
Height: 0.83 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
A fatal fire. A staged accident. A killer hiding somewhere in the smoke.
When flames tear through an aging two-family flat near St. Louis's Tower Grove Park, firefighters discover the body of longtime resident Evelyn Evie Marino in her upstairs bedroom. At first, the explanation seems tragically ordinary: an unattended skillet, a sleeping victim, and a fast-moving fire.
But veteran St. Louis Fire Department investigator Jack Mercer knows the building is telling a different story.
The deepest damage is nowhere near the stove. A sealed access panel leading into the cockloft has been opened. Smoke-alarm batteries are missing. And someone carefully arranged the scene to make murder look like a cooking accident.
Hours before her death, Evie had confronted someone over forged documents intended to force her from the apartment she had called home for nearly four decades. With the property worth more than ever, developers circling, illegal tenants hiding in the basement, and several people desperate to see the building emptied, the list of suspects grows quickly.
Working alongside St. Louis homicide detectives, Jack must reconstruct the fire one detail at a time-from the path of the smoke to the movement of a heavy kitchen cart. Every clue exposes another lie, but each answer raises a more troubling question.
Who needed Evie gone badly enough to turn her home into a death trap?
As financial secrets, broken promises, and carefully concealed evidence come to light, Jack realizes the fire was more than an attempt to destroy a building. It was designed to erase the truth.
But fire leaves a record-and Jack Mercer knows how to read it.
Cockloft is Book 8 in The Jack Mercer Files, a gripping series of fire investigation mysteries filled with authentic detail, relentless suspense, and crimes that refuse to remain buried beneath the ashes
Also from
Ludwig, Gary
Fully Involved Leadership: Successful Strategies in Leadership from the Firefighter to the Fire Chief
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Prayers: Firefighting and EMS from Some of the Toughest Streets in America
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
The Girl Without a Name: From the Files of the St. Louis Police Homicide Division
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
110 Ways to Rock Your Firefighter Probation: How to Succeed as a Rookie Firefighter
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
Welcome to the Butterbeck School of Mismanagement: The Business School that Creates Terrible Leaders
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
401 Things Veteran Firefighters Can Teach You: Firefighter Tips and Tricks of the Trade
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
Dead Men Do Tell Tales: From the Files of the St. Louis Police Homicide Division
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
The Flood Wall Murders: From the Files of the St. Louis Police Homicide Division
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
The Forgotten Baseball Glove: From the Files of the St. Louis Police Homicide Division
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
The Forest Park Murders: From the Files of the St. Louis Police Homicide Division
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
The Hamilton Heights Massacre: From the Files of the St. Louis Police Homicide Division
Ludwig, Gary
Paperback
Also in
Mystery & Thriller
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Movie Tie-In Edition): Book 1 of the Millennium Trilogy
Larsson, Stieg
Paperback
The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
Lawhon, Ariel
Hardcover
Big Little Truths: Reese's Book Club: A Novel: The Sequel to Big Little Lies
Moriarty, Liane
Hardcover
The Altar of Pergamon: The Mystery of the Dark Angel and the Future of the World
Cahn, Jonathan
Hardcover