The Rule of Unorthodox Men (Two-Bit Street Mysteries, #1)

Private detective Layfette "Lafe" Doyle wasn't prepared for the cesspool of crime and corruption he was about to step into when he was hired to investigate the disappearance of a local prostitute. It's 1945, and 25st Street-aka Two-Bit Street-is the center of Ogden, Utah's red light district. The drug dens, pool halls, bars, and brothels are major attractions to war-weary soldiers heading home after the fall of the axis powers in WWII.
Lafe's search for the missing woman leads him deeper into the city's underbelly, even as the bodies of murdered and mutilated women-all of them prostitutes-begin turning up in the alleys and backlots along Two-Bit Street. He's convinced there's a connection between the killings and his missing person's investigation, but the cops aren't interested in listening to his theories. They arrest a man-Titus, a lifelong friend of Lafe's-on flimsy evidence and begin to build their case.
Lafe is certain Titus is innocent, and that the evidence against him was planted. He's also certain the police believe they've caught the right man, and they want to make sure he's locked away for the rest of his life. It wouldn't take much for a jury to find him guilty-a black man accused of murdering a white woman.
Lafe realizes he must find the killer himself, but it isn't going to be easy.
Not with time running out and a homicidal maniac on the loose. A madman who knows Lafe is hunting him, and is determined to strike first.