Where Monsters Hide

March 1, 2019

Phelps (The Killing Kind) takes up the convoluted tale of the investigation into the disappearance of small-town Michigan resident Chris Regan, revealing tensions between state and local investigators, neighbors, and spouses. In this true-crime story, Police Chief Laura Frizzo, from Iron River, MI, and Det. Jeremy Odgen from Hobart, IN, eventually unravel Regan's disappearance and murder by his coworker Kelly Cochran and her husband, Jason, who also ends up dead by his wife's hands. Phelps chronicles Cochran's many versions and explanations of the crime, complete with her confessing several times to as many as 20 other killings and the cannibalization of Regan's corpse. Phelps's writing conveys the many frustrating dead ends that Frizzo and Ogden run into in the course of investigating the heinous crime. Was Cochran really a serial killer? It's hard to decipher her and Jason's many lies. Phelps's Fargo-esque tale of sex, lies, and homicide in a small town is replete with lying suspects, reluctant witnesses, spooked neighbors, and reports of weird smells. VERDICT Recommended for true crime fans.--Amelia Osterud, Milwaukee P.L.

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