In The Cat Who Saw Red, competition is both a social and a personal concern.

As in the earlier novels, the city's two daily newspapers, the Daily Fluxion and the Morning Rampage, not only vie for advertisers and readers, but also represent competing editorial philosophies as the Fluxion emphasizes investigative reporting and the Rampage chooses a more conservative journalistic style. Qwill discovers an uglier type of competition taking place as the Heavenly Hash House syndicate attempts to bankrupt Max Sorrel's Golden Lamb Chop. Most destructive, though, are the instances of personal competition. For example, Dan Graham's attempts to outshine other potters lead to lying, theft, and murder.

Another concern is domestic violence, which—as Braun demonstrates—is an age-old problem. When Dan Graham's professional envy becomes personal jealousy, he abuses Joy, verbally and physically. Finally he kills her, not only in order to steal...