According to officials who treat it as murder, the bestselling German novelist was shot dead in a violent attack on the houseboat where she lived.
Alexandra Froelich, 58, author of “Skeleton in the Closet,” was found last Tuesday in her long Celis-colored houseboat at Holshafen Bank on the Elbe River in Hamburg. The Guardian reported.
The mother of three was found by her son, officials said.
“After assessing traces and evidence, investigators now believe that the woman has died as a result of the violence,” a police spokesman told local media about the incident being handled by the local murder squad.
Florrich is believed to have died some time between midnight and 5:30am, police told the outlet.
Investigators may have seen suspicious activity around the houseboat but have filed a complaint against witnesses who did not say if the suspect was identified, the outlet reported.
Frerich began her career as a journalist in Ukraine, where she founded a women’s magazine and later became a freelance journalist.
In 2012, she began her career as a novelist with her bestselling debut novel, “My Russian Stepmother and Other Catastrophes.”
She published her additional successful novel “Death Is Certification” in 2016, and “The Skeleton of the Closet” in 2019.
Both were published by the Penguins and featured on the Spiegel Bestseller list.
