
Bestselling novelist Alexandra Fröhlich found shot dead on her houseboat
A bestselling German novelist was shot dead in a violent attack on the houseboat where she lived, according to officials treating it as murder.
'Skeletons in the Closet' author Alexandra Fröhlich, 58, was found early last Tuesday on her long cerise-colored houseboat on the Holshafen bank of the Elbe River in Hamburg, The Guardian reported.
3
Penguin
The mom of three was found by her son, officials said.
'After evaluating traces and evidence, the investigating authorities now believe that the woman died as a result of violence,' a police spokesperson told local media of the case being handled by the local murder squad.
3 Fröhlich began her career as a novelist with her bestselling novel, My Russian Mother-in-Law and Other Catastrophes.
Amazon
Fröhlich is believed to have died some time between midnight and 5:30 a.m., police told the outlet.
Investigators have appealed to witnesses who may have seen suspicious activity around the houseboat, but have not said if a suspect has been identified, the outlet reported.
3 She published additional successful novels, 'Death is a Certainty' and 'Skeletons in the Closet'
Amazon
Fröhlich 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 Mother-in-Law and Other Catastrophes,' described by critics as 'a hilarious west-east satire.'
She published additional successful novels, 'Death is a Certainty' in 2016, and 'Skeletons in the Closet' in 2019. Both were published by Penguin and appeared on the Spiegel Bestseller List.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Frederick Forsyth: Life as a thriller writer, fighter pilot, journalist and spy
Frederick Forsyth, who has died at the age of 86, wrote meticulously researched thrillers which sold in their millions. A former fighter pilot, journalist and spy, many of his books were based on his own experience. He wove intricate technical details into his stories, without detracting from the lightning pace of his plots. His research often embarrassed the authorities, who were forced to admit that some of the shady tactics he revealed were used in real-life espionage. Frederick McCarthy Forsyth was born on 25 August 1938 in Ashford, Kent. The only child of a furrier, he dealt with loneliness by immersing himself in adventure stories. Among his favourites were the works John Buchan and H Rider Haggard, but Forsyth adored Ernest Hemingway's book on bullfighters, Death in the Afternoon. He was so captivated that - at the age of 17 - he went to Spain and started practising with a cape. He never actually fought a bull. Instead, he spent five months at the University of Granada before returning to do his national service with the RAF. Having spent years dreaming of becoming a pilot, Forsyth lied about his age so he could fly de Havilland Vampire jets. In 1958, he joined the Eastern Daily Press as a local journalist. Three years later, he moved to the Reuters news agency. At Tonbridge School, Forsyth had excelled in foreign languages but little else. Fluent in French, German, Spanish, and Russian, he was a born foreign correspondent. Posted to Paris, he covered a number of stories relating to assassination attempts on the life of France's President Charles de Gaulle, by members of the Organisation de l'Armee Secrete (OAS). The group of ex-army personnel were angered at de Gaulle's decision to give independence to Algeria after many of their comrades had died fighting Algerian nationalists. Forsyth called the OAS "white colonialists and neo-fascists". And he decided that, if they really wanted to kill de Gaulle, they would have to hire a professional assassin. Forsyth joined the BBC in 1965. Two years later, he was sent to Nigeria to cover the civil war that followed the secession of the south-eastern region of Biafra. When the fighting dragged on far longer than had been expected, Forsyth asked permission to stay and cover it. According to his autobiography, the BBC told him "it is not our policy to cover this war". "I smelt news management," he said. "I don't like news management." He quit his job and continued to cover the war as a freelance reporter for the next two years. He chronicled his experiences in The Biafra Story, which was published in 1969. He later claimed that, while in Nigeria, he began working for MI6, a relationship that continued for two decades. He also become friendly with a number of mercenaries, who taught him how to get a false passport, obtain a gun and break an enemy's neck. All these tricks of the trade would be incorporated in a tale of an attempted assassination of President de Gaulle, The Day of the Jackal, which he pounded out in his bedsit on an old typewriter in just 35 days. He spent months trying to get it published but faced a string of rejections. "For starters, de Gaulle was still alive," he said, "so readers already knew a fictional assassination plot set in 1963 couldn't succeed." Eventually, a publisher risked a short print run and sales of the book, described once as "an assassin's manual", took off, first in the UK and then in the US. The Day of the Jackal showcased what would become the traditional hallmarks of a Forsyth thriller. It wove together fact and fiction, often using the names of real individuals and events. The Jackal's forgery of a British passport, using the name of a dead child taken from a churchyard, was perfectly feasible in the days before electronic databases and cross-checking. The tale was made into an award-winning film in 1973, staring Edward Fox as the anonymous gunman. Forsyth followed up his success with The Odessa File, the story of a German reporter attempting to track down Eduard Roschmann - a notorious Nazi nicknamed the "Butcher of Riga" - who is protected by a secret society of former SS men known as Odessa. As part of his research, Forsyth travelled to Hamburg posing as a South African arms dealer. "I managed to penetrate their world and was feeling rather proud of myself," he later said. "What I didn't know was that the (contact) had passed a bookshop shortly after our meeting. And there, in the window, was The Day of the Jackal, with a great big picture of me on the back cover." The film of the book led to the identification of the real "Butcher of Riga", who was living in Argentina - after one of his neighbours went to see it at the local cinema. He was arrested by the Argentinian authorities, but skipped bail and fled to Paraguay. The book also mentioned a hoard of Nazi gold that was exported to Switzerland in 1944. Twenty-five years after publication, the Jewish World Congress discovered this passage and, eventually, located gold valued at £1bn. According to the Sunday Times, Forsyth's third novel, The Dogs of War, drew on his experience of organising a coup in Africa. The newspaper reported that Forsyth had once spent $200,000 hiring a boat and recruiting European and African soldiers of fortune for a raid designed to oust the President of Equatorial Guinea in 1972. The plan was said to have failed when the arrangements broke down and the soldiers were intercepted by the Spanish police in the Canary Islands, 3,000 miles from their objective. Then came Devil's Alternative, in which Britain's first female prime minister, Joan Carpenter, was firmly based on Margaret Thatcher, a politician Forsyth greatly admired. She later appeared, under her real name, in four Forsyth novels. There was a move into biography in 1982 with Emeka, the life story of Forsyth's friend Col Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the head of state of Biafra during that country's brief independence. In 1984, he returned to the novel with The Fourth Protocol: a complex tale of a Soviet plot to influence the British general election and install a hard-left Labour government. The book so impressed Sir Michael Caine that he persuaded Forsyth to allow a film version, in which the veteran actor starred alongside Pierce Brosnan. In the late 1980s, Forsyth separated from his first wife, the former model Carole Cunningham and was photographed alongside the actress Faye Dunaway. The Negotiator, published in 1991, continued the successful run while The Deceiver, the tale of a maverick but brilliant MI6 agent, was made into a BBC mini-series. After two more thrillers, The Fist of God and Icon, Forsyth took an abrupt detour with The Phantom of Manhattan: a sequel to the Phantom of the Opera, which had been a successful musical. It was not a great success but, in 2010, Andrew Lloyd Webber took elements of it for his musical follow-up to Phantom, Love Never Dies. A second set of short stories, The Veteran, also had mixed reviews but Forsyth bounced back in his usual style with Avenger, a 2003 political thriller and, three years later, The Afghan, which had links with the earlier Fist of God. By now, Forsyth had established a reputation as a broadcaster and political pundit. He was a frequent guest on the BBC's topical debate programme Question Time, as someone who held views on the right of the political spectrum. A committed Eurosceptic, he once derailed former Prime Minister Ted Heath on the programme - after proving that he had indeed, despite his denials, once signed a document agreeing to transfer UK gold reserves to Frankfurt. On turning 70, the pace of his writing began to slow. The Cobra, published in 2010, saw the return of some of the characters from Avenger. In 2013, Forsyth published The Kill List, a fast-moving tale built round a Muslim fanatic called The Preacher, whose online videos encouraged young Muslims to carry out a series of killings. He wrote all his books on a typewriter and refused to use the internet for his research. Ironically, his 18th novel, The Fox - published in 2018 - was a spy thriller about a gifted computer hacker. Forsyth announced it was to be his final book, but he later came out of self-imposed retirement after the death of his second wife, Sandy, in 2024. He said he was writing another adventure, and even suggested a raffle might give someone the chance to name a character after themselves. Having sold the film rights for £20,000 in the 1970s, Forsyth received no payment for Eddie Redmayne's version of The Day of the Jackal when it was re-imagined for television last year on Sky. Well into his 80s, he had long since agreed to stop research trips to far-flung parts of the world - when a trip to Guinea-Bissau left him with an infection that nearly cost him a leg. "It is a bit drug-like, journalism," he admitted. "I don't think that instinct ever dies." It was an instinct that made his life as full and exciting as his thrillers. The Day Of The Jackal author Frederick Forsyth dies Lee Child: Why Forsyth's Jackal changed thriller writing Frederick Forsyth reveals spy past
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Thunberg, activists in Israeli custody after delivery attempt to Gaza
June 9 (UPI) -- The Israeli government announced Monday that the boat crew of civilians that included Swedish activist Greta Thunberg it intercepted attempting to transport humanitarian supplies to Gaza will be returned to their home countries upon arrival in Israel. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or MFA, reported across its social media platform that the vessel, identified as the "Madleen" by the nonprofit Freedom Flotilla Coalition organization, or FFC, that launched it, is being brought to an Israel port. The MFA refers to the craft as a "selfie yacht," and has confirmed that Thunberg is aboard, in addition to other "celebrities," but did not name them. The FFC listed all their names last week after the announcement that the boat was already on its way "with life-saving aid, to break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza and establish a people's sea corridor." The MFA also stated that the passengers aboard the Madleen have been supplied with sandwiches and water, and that the "tiny amount of aid that wasn't consumed by the 'celebrities' will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels." It also posted a photo of Thunberg Monday, apparently about to receive food and bottled water from someone dressed in military apparel. "Greta Thunberg is currently on her way to Israel, safe and in good spirits," the image was captioned. Another person who was aboard the Madleen European Parliament member Rima Hassan of France, who posted to X late Monday morning that "the crew of the Freedom Flotilla has been unlawfully detained by Israel for more than 14 hours" since Israel commandeered the vessel. Thunberg had released a video via her social media pages late Sunday that alleged "If you see this video, it means we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel." German citizen Yasemin Acar, also aboard the Madleen, posted a video of herself Sunday night to Instagram in an unspecified situation, but was wearing a life jacket and apparently had at least one arm raised behind her head as sirens wailed in the background and an amplified voice that seemingly said "Don't be afraid" and "Stay where you are" in English could also be heard." The FFC posted a separate message to Instagram Sunday which purported that "drones dropped unidentified chemicals on the Madleen. Immediately after, our peaceful volunteers were rammed and intercepted before Israeli forces boarded the vessel. We lost all contact with them seconds later." An updated post from the FFC Monday called out what it has described as an "illegal attack" by Israel on the Madleen. It has been widely reported that the Madleen has been brought to Israel's Port of Ashdod, and that Sweden's foreign ministry has confirmed it is in touch with Israel over Thunberg, and will stand by should the need for consular assistance be required.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
University of Michigan denounced for using private investigators to surveil student protesters
Pro-Palestinian protest on the UM campus on February 20, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz Josiah Walker has one year left until he graduates from the University of Michigan. However, since last summer, his college life had undergone an abrupt change when he realized he was being followed and recorded by several people while going about his daily activities on campus and around Ann Arbor. As it turns out, he wasn't the only one. According to The Guardian, they all shared the same pattern: the pro-Palestinian movement on campus. On Friday, The Guardian published a report in which a group of students accused the University of Michigan of hiring private undercover investigators from the Detroit-based firm City Shield to conduct covert surveillance both on and off campus of student pro-Palestinian activist groups. Walker is among the five U of M students who were interviewed in the report. They declared that they were trailed, eavesdropped on, recorded, and verbally harassed by what they considered intimidation tactics from the university. They said they recognized dozens of investigators, often working in teams, who were behind their steps around campus and Ann Arbor, sometimes sitting at nearby tables at cafes and bars. 'The same people and vehicles kept popping up everywhere I went on and even off campus. Each individual would execute some combination of recording and following me,' Walker told the Advance. The Guardian investigation determined that the private investigators are employees of City Shield. According to university spending records from June 16, 2023, through September 15, 2024, the university paid at least $850,000 to City Shield's parent company, Ameri-Shield. 'The university had used a lot of its own resources to uplift my previous involvements and accomplishments. Now, I'm on the other side where the university is using those same resources to try to destroy my future and, quite frankly, seriously injure or kill me,' Walker told the Advance. These students started to record, identify, and confront the undercover investigators by themselves, resulting in tense interactions recorded on video. Katarina Keating, also one of the students interviewed by The Guardian, is a PhD candidate and a member of the Graduate Employees' Organization. She recounted to the Advance that she noticed she was being followed in early November last year. She said she started seeing the same person following her after protests or events, and even weekly in the last months. Walker said he began to feel watched last year when he noticed that many people were continuously recording and following him; therefore, he started to record them in return. He shared the videos of those encounters with the Advance, also posted in the report, of himself recognizing and confronting those The Guardian reported are undercover investigators, including an interaction in which the alleged investigator, who is white, appears to falsely accuse Walker, who is Black, of trying to steal his wallet. During another of those interactions, he says a car from where he was being recorded almost hit him, making him fear for his life since then. 'The threat has already presented itself. This is what City Shield employees or university contractors were willing to do on camera when it was very obvious that I was recording them as I was holding my phone at chest level. There's no telling what they're willing to do off-camera,' Walker said to the Advance. Another video Walker shared with the Advance shows the same man sitting inside his parked vehicle and initially pretending to be hearing impaired, including speaking in an impeded manner, before switching to a normal voice. Michigan Advance requested an interview with a university spokesperson, but instead were directed to a public email from the interim university President, Domenico Grasso, regarding the investigation. 'At the University of Michigan, simultaneously keeping our campus safe and welcoming is a top priority,' Grasso said. 'We recently learned that an employee of one of our security contractors has acted in ways that go against our values and directives. What happened was disturbing, unacceptable, and unethical, and we will not tolerate it.' Additionally, Grasso said the university was terminating all contracts with vendors to provide plainclothes security on campus. The university also provided a campus security statement issued Sunday, saying that 'recent media reports have mischaracterized the role of contract security personnel who were engaged solely to support campus safety efforts,' and denying that the university had requested the services of private investigators to monitor U of M students on or off campus. Both statements explained that as part of a 'security strategy' during 2024, the university augmented contracts with outside firms of plainclothes security personnel in order to 'provide discreet awareness of potential illegal activities without escalating tensions,' said the updated statement. Grasso recommended reporting any inappropriate behavior by contractors or employees to campus police or the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office. 'It's certainly not 'safe and welcoming' for the dozens of students and community members who have been banned from campus for participating in protests. Grasso should reverse these campus bans next,' said Keating to the Advance in response to the statements. Walker declared to the Advance that, as of the time of publication of this report, U of M has not reached him to offer support or in response to the investigation by The Guardian, and so far, he believes he is still being monitored. 'It's really unfortunate. There's no doubt that if City Shield operatives or university police see me, they're going to continue to monitor me. They'll probably just try to be more discreet about it,' said Walker. The student accusations come as part of a series of rifts in the already strained relationship between the university administration and pro-Palestinian groups, including accusations of vandalism against individuals in the groups, and alleged selective targeting by authorities. Walker was among a group of students charged in September 2024 with trespassing and/or resisting university police during the raid on the pro-Palestinian encampment at the Ann Arbor campus' Diag in May 2024. The trespassing charges were later dismissed. In April, the pro-Palestinian activist group, TAHRIR coalition, alleged that some of their members were targeted in raids by the FBI at the houses where they live, authorized by Attorney General Dana Nessel. The raids were carried out in Ypsilanti, Canton, and Ann Arbor by unmarked vehicles accompanied by the Michigan State Police and local police officers. Pro-Palestinian activists were also accused by the university police earlier this month of damaging and vandalizing hundreds of flowers at the university's famed peony gardens after they found papers signed with pro-Palestinian slogans. 'The university has 100% selectively prioritized rights such as freedom of expression and movement. If a cause has even a remotely favorable view of Palestine or Palestinians, one can expect fierce university opposition,' Walker told the Advance. Despite the actions of the university and its contractors being publicized, Walker doesn't feel completely at ease because he worries the university could still take various measures against him. 'On one hand, it feels liberating to be able to raise awareness about what's been happening,' Walker told the Advance. 'On the other hand, I can't help but know that the university police department and City Shield are probably looking for ways to retaliate against me.' Both Walker and Keating say college life is no longer the same and that they no longer socialize freely, to the point that Walker warns his close friends to be careful around him so they don't endanger themselves, while Keating is always watching people around her. 'My life has changed in that I'm on high alert any time I am walking around campus, which is essentially every workday. I'm always looking around to see if someone is watching or following me,' Keating said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX