The characters alone personify the degrees of good and bad that makes us human. A mother seeking vengeance for a daughter brutally raped and killed. A absentee father trying to do right by his child because of his career choice. A cop who toes the line of right and wrong so often that's only a minute step to crossing over the threshold permanently. Prostitutes and strippers trying to survive on the streets, but wanted to do the right thing for one of their own. The streets themselves teeming with people stereotyping all the "bad" people: biker gang, pimps, drug dealers, etc. 

Some Degree of Murder entertainingly examines people, what human nature is, and just what people will do when they're pushed right to the edge of a cliff, whether it's anger, grief, greed, or simple survival. Once someone takes that final step over the edge, there's no telling how far they'll fall, and all their decisions are relative (a degree) of where they're currently at.