White butterfly - Walter Mosley

It's 1956 and no one in official Los Angeles pays much attention when three black bar girls are murdered. But when a white stripper is similarly murdered and she turns out to be a UCLA coed and the daughter of a powerful LA prosecutor - all hell breaks loose.
The LAPD calls on Easy Rawlins for help, for he can go places and do things the police cannot. Reluctantly, Easy accepts their plea and begins a deadly quest that takes him through the seedy jazz joints of Bone Street and the dingy rooms of Hollywood Row. It is a brutal, dangerous odyssey that jeopardizes his marriage and his life - and leads to a shocking conclusion.