Work for a Million

by Amanda Deibert, Eve Zaremba, Selena Goulding (Illustrator)

Tightly plotted and razor sharp, Work for a Million is hard-boiled detective noir stunningly rendered against a 1970s urban backdrop.

When Helen Keremos, Private Detective, is hired by a beautiful recording artist who has just won a million dollar lottery prize, her plan for a quiet life on the West Coast is quickly diverted. Helen is fiercely loyal, an independent woman whose magnetic personality and storied career make her the city's premier private eye, suspicious of all stereotypes and not afraid to bend the rules. Rising star Sonia Deerfield has been receiving blackmail threats from an anonymous caller, and though she is surrounded by her keenly invested business team of friends, Helen wonders how trustworthy they really are. As the stakes get higher and attempts are made on their lives, the two women are drawn closer together through the twists and turns of the blackmailer's dangerous pursuit--and their chemistry is no mystery.

In 1978 Eve Zaremba introduced detective Helen Keremos to readers in a pulp fiction series. The 1987 instalment of the series, Work for a Million, featured the first openly lesbian detective in genre fiction. The novel was adapted into a graphic novel in 2019 by television and comic book writer Amanda Deibert, and will be published more than forty years after readers fell in love with Helen Keremos and Eve Zaremba.

Vivid historical research into Toronto of the late-1970s and a dazzling cast of familiars and foes are brought to life on the page by Canadian artist Selena Goulding in a mixture of full colour and black and white illustrations.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Mystery, Fiction, LGBT, Queer, Comics, Canada

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2021

Reviews

[Jos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounding up because this was a graphic novel adaptaion of an important piece of Canadian lesbian history.

Work for a Million was published in the 1970s by Eve Zaremba, and features a butch Private Detective, named Helen, helping to find out who is harassing a recent lottery winner in Toronto.

The graphic novel had the charm of an old detective novel but replace the schlubby detective with a badass butch in a leather jacket.

The story was pretty standard for a mystery and the art was quite well done. There were some parts of the script that did not transition nicely between panels.

It was worth the read to acquaint myself with a book series I never knew existed. I am glad they took the time to adapt the original novel into something that can be shared with current readers.

[darce vader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun vacation from my chaotic brain. Queer detective story - what more could you ask for?

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never heard of Eve Zaremba until now, but this graphic novel based on her work has left me wanting to check out her mystery novels!

I love the representation in this, and how it was such a throwback to 1970s Toronto and the whole aesthetic of private investigator woman sleuth. A classic mystery novel retold with a graphic novel twist!

[E.M. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what all the middling reviews of this graphic novel refer to--it's a fun, light mystery set in Toronto in the 1980s about a private eye who is hired to protect a newly wealthy singer.

I love the the origin story: Eve Zaremba wrote a series of novels in the late 1980s about a woman who is both a competent private eye and a lesbian--one of the first lesbian main characters to appear in the detective genre.

In her mid-50s at the time of the original writing, Zaremba was in her 90s when Amanda Deibert and Selena Goulding produced this graphic novel adaptation of her work.

Being reminded that breakthroughs can happen at any time in a creative life is a message I love to get.

I haven't read the novels, so I can't speak to the elements of the adaptation. I zipped through this graphic novel, though. The research about how Toronto looked in the 80s (which I have partial knowledge of) is also well done.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this unaware of the backstory behind Eve Zaremba and her mystery novel series. I picked this up on a whim. I felt like I was missing a bit of context. I feel like I was given a taste of the Helen Keremos world, but not enough to be invested in the characters and plot in this book. I do, however, plan to track down the original novels because the premise of a sapphic private investigator in the 1970’s really appeals to me.


I did really like the art style in this graphic novel. I like the simplistic and intentional use of color on the page.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall good, but some of the characters just wouldn't stick in my head despite the bios in the front. I kept mixing up Lew and Ben because neither is really developed quite enough for me to keep them separate. Which then meant I felt a bit left behind in terms of the mystery and figuring out what was going on. Definitely made me curious about the original novel though.

[San · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I'd never heard of Eve Karemba before coming across this graphic novel adaptation of one of her books and it's definitely making me want to find and read the actual novel versions now. I loved most things about it - the setting of Toronto in the 70s/80s, an unapologetically kick-ass lesbian FMC, and a classic private detective plot, but I think the pacing was faster than I typically like in a mystery. I think the genre benefits from more time to learn about the characters and build some tension. However, I completely understand that when you do a graphic novel adaptation some sacrifices to plot and dialogue have to be made. I was a fan of the art style and strategic pops of colour though!

[Paul Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the art by Selena Goulding. It is pared back and with odd splashes of color that seem random but created a fun little game on each page. The art complements the setting of the story (1980's Toronto) and it created a distinctive place and space for the story.
I found the story and action incredibly engaging. No fluff, no superfluous characters and a great pace. I also appreciated the cast of characters with their unique voices and motivations. The conclusion of the story was underwhelming but sometimes I get that with the mystery genre. Still, "Work for a Million" floored me and will stick with me for a while.

[alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detective adaptation featuring a butch lesbian meets striking red head who reminds me of Celia St. James from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo set on the back drop of Toronto in the 1970s—a queer, nostalgic delight!

Selena Goulding did an amazing job with the art—the main subjects coloured against a grey backdrop was a smart, engaging choice.

Representation of 1970s Toronto was fun to see in the art (even recognized an old work place of mine!)

Keremo winking at every woman to get her way made me giggle. Her doing what any man could—but BETTER was empowering to read!

[Artnoose McMoose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a new graphic novel interpretation of the detective novel of the same name, by Eve Zaremba. Helen Keremos is a lesbian detective hired to be the body guard of a pop singer in Toronto who has just come into a million dollars. Helen has this super sexy butch style and doesn’t let anything stop her on the case, even surviving a car bombing. I had never heard of these ground-breaking pulp detective novels, but now I want to read them.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. The characters and their relationships were introduced pretty rapidly and left no room for development. It was a short book, so that's to be expected, but I think more could've been done with it. The graphics went from all black and white to some random color. It felt unorganized and left me kind of uninterested in the story, but again it was something I read in less than 30 minutes, so I suppose you can't ask too much in that short of a book.

[Rachel Pendlebury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that this is set in Toronto in the 70's and that the main character was a bad ass queer female detective. I enjoyed the artwork but I have to admit I didn't love the mystery itself. I would still recommend it for people familiar with Toronto and who want to see more diversity in a story set in the past.

[Rolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this spin on the classic detective noir, with the worldwise detective being a butch lesbian in the 80s. The graphic novel visuals were excellent, too--I especially liked the illustrator’s sparse use of color to highlight certain elements of a scene.

Now I really want to check out Eve Zaremba’s other Helen Keremos stories.

[Caralyn Rubli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway through Goodreads
This my first time reading a graphic novel. I did not care for it. It is based off a mystery series written in the 80s.The story was good but I felt I missed a lot. I'd rather read the book

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure how I feel about this one. I started it. I stopped it. I tried to continue it and had to restart it from the beginning. I didn't really care about the characters or plot. But I felt I needed to finish it, if only because of the history behind Helen Keremos.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork and background scenes made it worth the read. The plot and characters could have used more depth. I can’t give less than four stars to a book that used the local research library in order to have accurate subway car advertisements!

[Sal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 1987 lesbian-PI novel written and set in Toronto gets the graphic adaptation treatment. The mystery is not strong and there's some idiosyncrasies (existence of bike lanes) but the art & storytelling are effective.

[Melissa McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations were beautiful. Like other graphic novels it was a fast story that could have been explained more

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but a lot shorter than I'd expected for something adapted from a novel. Great artwork.

[Vanna Book-Mage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wicked awesome illustrations. Very detective noir chic vibe. Characters were flawed, but likeable. It was also gay!

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A good mix of excellent art, a compelling hardboiled detective narrative, and 1980s Toronto with a female protagonist. Well worth reading.

[Benjamin Palladino · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Just your typical crime story. Nothing too special.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty fun to see any Toronto graphic novel content beyond Scott Pilgrim. Enjoyed this story.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED IT!
I need to read more graphic novels, especially gay ones.

[Mark Medland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing could be better. That being said I kind of dig the setting in Toronto which it was a pretty cool and dangerous city.

[Salty Swift · Rating 3 out of 5]

Work for a Million is a lusciously illustrated graphic novel that centers on a relationship between singer Sonia Deerfield and a persistent detective Helen Keremos. While it's great to see many Toronto neighborhoods featured in these pages, unfortunately the story seems rather flat. The love affair seems somewhat contrived. More sparks and raging fire would've helped the story really go places.

[dennreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Badass and funny detective Helen. Loved her and her personality… such a flirt trying to save her damsel from the mystery extortion for her millions.
This was a fun graphic novel about how it is very hard to trust people when you are famous , rich, and beautiful. I really liked it. Read it in one sitting. 😅

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little weak.

This is set in 1970s Toronto, which was more interesting than I expected, but still a little bland and Canadian. It has a somewhat goofy cast of characters and fails as a mystery by pretty clearly telegraphing that somebody in this very limited pool is the bad guy without making the process very exciting.

I understand this is adapting an earlier novel which featured one of the first lesbian detectives. I guess that makes it notable, though that isn't enough to make it good.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 2022. Graphic novel based on Eve Zaremba’s groundbreaking mystery novel series about a lesbian private investigator based out of Toronto. Interesting and badass, with those moody noir vibes and grit.

Definitely recommend! I’m interested in seeing if I can find her novel series on audiobook.
Got the graphic novel from Sac library.

“Work for a Million” by Amanda Deibert, illustrated by Selena Goulding.