German police have launched a murder investigation after a bestselling novelist was found dead on her houseboat in Hamburg.

Alexandra Fröhlich was discovered dead by relatives onboard her houseboat in the Moorfleet district of the German city, according to a statement that Hamburg Police shared with CNN.

“After a 58-year-old woman was found dead on her houseboat in Hamburg’s Moorfleet district on Tuesday morning, the police and public prosecutor’s office are now assuming a homicide and are asking for information from the public,” the statement said.

It added that members of Fröhlich’s family initially contacted the fire department after finding her lifeless body, but that police were soon informed.

“As the cause of death was unclear and outside influence could not be ruled out, officers from the homicide squad took over the investigation at the scene in close coordination with the public prosecutor’s office,” the statement said, adding that police divers had been deployed at the scene.

Examination of the scene and evidence has led police to assume that “the woman died as a result of violence”.

The police called on potential witnesses to contact them with any information they might have about the ongoing investigation.

Fröhlich was a freelance magazine editor, as well as a novelist. She started her career as a journalist, founding a women’s magazine in Kyiv, according to German publisher Knaur, which published her first novel.

According to Penguin, which published her recent books, her novels “My Russian Mother-in-Law and Other Catastrophes” and “There’s Always Someone Dying” were Spiegel bestsellers.