The Imaginary Blonde — Ross MacDonald

How do you pin a murder on a woman who doesn't exist?
Lew Archer was in a dismal mood when he checked into a sleepy motel. He had just lost the man he was trailing and then got into a crazy highway chase with a Cadillac. Now he just wanted to get some sleep. But his thoughts of sleep ended when a screaming brunette woke him with her screams and a hand covered in blood. It looked like a murder, but where was the victim? And Lew Archer only had one suspect―an imaginary blonde that nobody seems to have seen.