I'm at that stage again when I need a title for the new DI Andy Horton Crime Novel

I'm often asked how I come up with titles for my crime novels and the answer is either with great difficulty or considerable ease. This time, having almost completed the final edits of the next DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, number seven in the series, I am struggling to find a title for it.

Some titles can come instantly, almost the moment the novel hits the page (or rather the computer screen) Dead Man's Wharf  and Tide of Death are both a case in point. Others are like pregnancy taking months to develop and even then when the novel is finished I might still have no idea of a suitable title. It has to have a marine theme because all the DI Horton novels are set against the backdrop of the sea and it has to suit a crime novel.

Deadly Waters started out as Deadly Harbour but was changed because of publication in America where 'harbour' is spelt 'harbor.'

The Suffocating Sea conjures up the body on the burning boat in a marina on a foggy November night and how Horton feels as the novel progresses and he begins to discover some uncomfortable things about his mother's past.

Tide of Death represents the body washed up on the tide and how one death triggers a series of killings as the killer gets more and more desperate to cover his tracks.Blood on the Sand, reflects the bloody body found in the sand of a bunker on an abandoned golf course on the Isle of Wight. And Footsteps on the Shore springs from the setting of the novel. 

And the current DI Andy Horton I am writing?  Well, here is little teaser...

When a body is found floating in the sea off Portsmouth harbour, Horton has no evidence to suggest it is murder even though there are some peculiar factors surrounding the death. But a visit to the dead man’s flat reassures Horton.  They’re looking at an accidental death. Soon though, to Horton’s dismay, he realizes he's got it very wrong.  Clearly he’s taken his finger off the pulse, or so his bosses think. His preoccupation with the disappearance of his mother over thirty years ago, the arrival of a Superyacht in the harbour and the re-acquaintance with a former girlfriend has clouded his judgement. With no clear motive for the murder, Horton is sucked into a baffling investigation that he is determined to resolve despite the odds.  Not only is it a race against time to find a brutal killer before he can strike again but Horton now has a desperate need to prove to himself and others that he is still up to the job.

Any ideas?