Between Shakespeare and Kennedy, what's in a title?

As most of my readers know, I've been hard at work on my latest novel. The good news is that it's done and I'm very excited about it. The bad news is that the title I originally selected doesn't seem to be the kind of title that makes people think of a thriller.

So what is the title?

Before I tell you that, let me give you a little history (would you expect anything less from me?). In the early morning of June 5, 1968 Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The killer who was literally caught with the smoking gun in his hand was a Palestinian nobody named Sirhan Sirhan. The case seemed pretty cut and dry until witnesses began mentioning a woman wearing a polka dot dress who fled the hotel shouting, "We shot him! We shot him!"

There were also many oddities concerning Sirhan's appearance at the time of his apprehension. With all the chaos surrounding him in the wake of the shooting, he wore a serene, peaceful expression on his face. His eyes were glossy and his pupils were dilated. But he didn't have any drugs in his system, except for 4 Tom Collins drinks.

During police interrogations, Sirhan maintained that he had no recollection of the shooting whatsoever. The only thing he could recall was having coffee with a beautiful woman wearing a polka dot dress, then waking up to people pummeling him in the hotel's kitchen pantry. Sirhan is still in maximum security prison in California and to this day he maintains the same story with no recollection of the shooting.

Thus ends the history lesson. Of course, there's far more to the story than what I mentioned. But I gave you enough to now tell you the title I originally conceived for my novel: THE GIRL IN THE POLKA DOT DRESS. My story is set in the modern day and involves a re-investigation of the Robert Kennedy murder that focuses on this mysterious figure. And, as I said before, it's a high suspense thriller.

My problem is that people who aren't aware of the alleged conspiracy behind Robert Kennedy's murder have no idea what my title would mean. And I'm afraid they'll think THE GIRL IN THE POLKA DOT DRESS is a book about fashion or some other traditionally female subject. Therefore, I've been mulling over other titles, a few of which I like very much. 

William Shakespeare famously wrote, "what's in a name?" And the publishing world's equivalent to that question is "what's in a title?" When you consider that big money...tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars...are tied up in making a book as marketable as possible, the title has obvious importance.

So you'll just have to stay tuned to see what title I select. But no matter what the title is, I can assure you that this book will be an exciting, nail-biting, edge of your seat thriller that also tugs on the heart strings. Despite the obvious cliche's of that sentence, the truth remains that the book really will keep the reader engaged until they've processed the very last word!