German police on Monday released details about the murder of bestselling author Alexandra Fröhlich, who was found dead on her houseboat on the Elbe River in Hamburg last week.

"The investigation has revealed that blunt force trauma was the cause of the 58-year-old's death," German daily the Hamburger Morgenpost quoted police as saying (in German). Earlier, some German media reported that Fröhlich had been shot.

Hamburg police told DW on Tuesday that the investigation was still ongoing.

What do we know about the incident?

Hamburg police said Thursday, without naming Fröhlich, that a 58-year-old woman was found dead on her houseboat in Hamburg's Moorfleet district on Tuesday morning, April 22.

In a press release, police said that relatives found the woman lifeless on her houseboat and alerted the rescue service of the fire department, which could only determine that the woman had died.

As the cause of death was unclear and outside influence could not be ruled out, officers from the homicide squad (LKA 41) took over the investigation at the scene in close coordination with the public prosecutor's office. A 3D scanner and divers from the state police were also used to secure evidence.

A police spokesman later said that after examining traces and evidence, investigators believe the woman died as a result of violence.

Who was Alexandra Frölich?

Fröhlich was one of the most successful German novelists of recent years.

Her humorous yet profound novel "My Russian Mother-in-Law and Other Catastrophes" (2012) landed her on the Spiegel bestseller list for months. The writer said the book was based on her own experience of marrying a Russian.

Her second book, "Death is Certain," was released in 2016, followed by "Skeletons in the Closet" in 2019, both published by Penguin. She has also written for several women's magazines.

Fröhlich began her journalism career in Ukraine, where she founded a women's magazine in Kyiv and later became a freelance journalist. She had three sons.

Edited by: Alex Berry