Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

I need to find somebody and I might need a little help looking... The summer of '48 in the city of Angels and there's heat on the streets when Daphne Monet hits the sidewalk. Heat when she disappears with a trunk load of somebody else's cash.

Easy Rawlins is a war veteran just fired from his job. Drinking in a friend's bar, he wonders how to meet his mortgage when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will locate Miss Monet, a blonde with a reputation. It's a simple decision, but for one thing.

Nobody warned him - better the devil you know...