Sundown at Sunrise: A Story of Love and Murder, Based on One of the Most Notorious Ax Murders in American History

Mr Seifert is a historian, he goes into detail about the work of farming and housekeeping back in pioneer days. I find this interesting. I like stories about pioneers. The book is a fictional account of a terrible murder, the man's wife and four children were axed to death, the father hanged himself.The children were from six weeks to six years.This book begins when William Kleeman meets Maud Petrie at a dance in town. Maude, an oldest child and only daughter, is twenty-one, pretty, spoiled and sheltered, well dressed. Her family is somewhat well to do. She has an younger brother, two little boys died at age eight. Young people stayed much at home in these days. There was much work to be done on the farm.This south west Minnesota section is farm country.William is an oldest child, two years older than Maud, a very handsome young man. He is hired out to a farmer. The two young people fell in love. William, trying to impress Maud, buys a pair of horses and a carriage that he paints to look new. He also buys a car made by Sears that comes in parts and needs to be put together. Despite all he does to impress Maud, he refuses to be married in the church she had attended all her life. William is against all forms of religion, prayer, Bible reading, religious objects, crosses.The two marry, four step-stair kids, much work. William, used to hard work, never lost his good looks. Maud looked older than her age, gained weight, is worn out with hard work and demands of children. Her parents never cared for William, nor did Frank, who worked for her father. But parents did much to help the young couple and loved being grandparents.William was tired of marriage, of being tied down, never had time to do what he wanted, to be himself. A beautiful young school teacher begins boarding at the house. H admired the young woman and her father's fancy, expensive car. He could never afford a car like this. All there is is work. He explodes, never said why.The dead. The grandparents, aunts and uncles were torn apart. Their lives would never be the same. The pain would last until life ended. Clara Petrie was torn apart with grief. Henry Petrie didn't hate the Kleeman family, but went along with burial plans. I don't know how he could. A young mother and four children who never had a chance to live. The gossip, the pointing out, the hatred and anger in this part of Minnesota. William hung himself. The young teacher found his body, then called for help. The crime was committed in 1917, one hundred years ago.

We are used to seeing news about men who slaughter their families before killing themselves. It seems like a horrible, modern phenomenon, although it has always existed.I have learned that fathers usually have an instinct when it comes to future son-in-laws, then and today. I would advise women to think very hard before marrying someone Dad advices you not to marry.The family was struggling and decided to rent a room to a new school teacher in town. School teachers were expected to lodge with a local family.It appears that an affair occurred between the husband and the teacher, something much more scandalous and damaging to one's reputation then than today.Although not known for sure, it is suspected that the teacher may have told the husband that she was pregnant before she left town. Her family had enough money to help her hide a pregnancy and protect her from scandal. However, no one knows what she told her lover before leaving town.I suspect that the husband expected the affair to become public and wanted to escape the social consequences through suicide. Family annihilators may believe that their families cannot survive without them and see murder as preventing their future suffering.He may have convinced himself that the family could not survive economically and/or the social shame.

Similar to other readers I grew up in an area not far from the location of the murders. However, I think that my commonality with the other readers may end there. I heard of this book on a local news channel and was immediately excited. Local history and mystery are right up my alley, for interests. I felt let down. It wasn't a terrible book. It was from my point of view simply lacking. Lacking in consistency, lacking in thrill and lacking in creative thinking. Animals are scared of this man, garter snakes follow him around as if a foreboding sign of evil, men of the cloth are struck sick in his presence. He was charming and manipulative. All things that lean towards an inherently evil man or perhaps a sociopath. This is inconsistent with his heart for a young stuttering man and his love for his family (up until you know- their murders). The motive for murdering his whole family was lacking as well and the way that the events were implied as opposed to bringing up those details, left me feeling that the author did not have the constitution for delving into the mind of a killer or even a philanderer. These are good qualities in a budding politician, but seem to fall short for qualities of an author. Once again, I didn't hate it, but the potential here was greater than what was delivered and that to me is a great let down.

I did like this book as the subject matter was very interesting to me. It was based on a true story that took place not far from where I live.The author did a great job on his research for the book and really developed the characters well. The writing was quite good for a first book, however since it was fiction based on an actual crime, I found myself wanting to know what in his story was based on facts vs. what his imagination came up with to round out his characters and story line. Overall I gave it a strong 4 as it left me wanting to know more about the facts of this case. I would recommend it to anyone that likes a good crime story.

I went to Church with his family when I was young and I grew up in the area. Very interesting story though I had not heard of it until my brother mentioned the book. I remember some of the names of families in the book. I love history so even though it was historical fiction found it very interesting. I hadn't heard of garter snakes being evil and I liked the touch with the crows and the animals not liking him. I think it added to the story and made it more suspenseful even though I knew what the outcome would be.