Agatha Christie in 1910
By Melodie Campbell
Some readers of Anne’s blog know that I taught fiction writing at college for over 30 years, going back to the early 90s. The dialogue below happened so often in class, I could phone it in.
- Me to adult male student: “There are no women in your book. Over 60% of books are bought by women. You might want to put in someone they can relate to.”
- Student: “Yes there is! See?” (pointing)
- Me: “She’s the victim. You kill her off on page two.”
Then much of the class sat dumbfounded, as I pointed out the “Campbell factor,” as they called it.
If you want to sell books to over 60% of the market, write real women into your books. Women we can relate to, and want to relate to.
HOLLYWOOD DRIVES ME CRAZY
The same applies to Hollywood. In so many movies released in the past twenty years, and by my count, the majority of action movies and thrillers, there are perhaps two women present in supporting roles. The victim and the babe.
That’s it. Not surprisingly, a lot of thriller books written by men sport the same two female supporting characters.
(To be fair, sometimes the babe is a villain. Lovely. I am encouraged to relate to a victim or a villain. Or – worst of all – the only supporting female character is a goodhearted prostitute. Please save me.)
Which is why the Bechdel Test came to be so famous. Do you know it?
To pass, a film must have:
- Two named female characters
- Who talk to each other
- About something other than a man.
Both Anne and I write mystery series that pass the Bechdel test. But you would be shocked at how few films measure up. You would be further shocked at how few films that pass the Bechdel Test show up on the ‘top ten list of favourite movies’ by my male writer friends, all good guys. (I did a test. And yes, even they were disturbed to discover this.)
THANK GAWD FOR AGATHA
I cut my reading teeth on Nancy Drew, and then moved on to Agatha Christie.
When I was a teen, Christie was my favourite author. She’s still up there in my top ten. It’s no surprise to me that she is the best-selling fiction writer in the world.
By why, you ask? Surely there are other greats from the same period, even other female authors – Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh etc – who wrote terrific mysteries.
Curious about that, I decided to look at what I liked about the Christie books and movies, as opposed to other great writers.
It was immediately clear. I could see myself in her books! I could relate, as there were several females, young and old, in all of her books. And they talked to each other! Far beyond the victim and the babe, Christie wrote female sleuths as well as female village characters (Miss Marple and Tuppence Beresford, for starters.) Real women of all ages, not just gorgeous young ones that needed to be murdered or rescued, or sat around waiting to be a reward for some hero.
WE MADE OUR BECHDEL TEST LISTS
So when I was challenged by my male friends to make a list of films that passed the Bechdel test, the first ones I thought of were all the Agatha Christie films that have been released in the past 25 years. And while I might not prefer the way Kenneth Branagh’s recent films deviate from the books, they still pass the Bechdel Test with flying colours, so they’re on the list. Here’s a sample:
- Death on the Nile
- Crooked House
- Murder on the Orient Express
- The Secret Adversary
- And Then There Were None
- Murder in Mesopotamia
- Why Didn’t They Ask Evens?
- 4:50 From Paddington
- Murder is Easy
- Endless Night
- The ABC Murders
- The Moving Finger
- All of the Miss Marple films (too numerous to list here)
WHY IS THE BECHDEL TEST IMPORTANT?
Why is it important to see characters you can relate to and admire on the silver screen?
As someone who went to business school in the last century, and had no female profs for the entire four years, I can tell you the following:
Not only do you have no role models, but if you aren’t seen, you aren’t heard.
Everyone wants to be seen and heard. Everyone of all ages and gender.
And as the world sits now, it’s more important than it ever was.
by Melodie Campbell (@MelodieCampbell) April 19, 2026
What about you, scriveners? Do your stories pass the Bechdel Test? Do you enjoy reading books that have a mostly all one-gender test?
About Melodie Campbell
Melodie Campbell’s books always pass the Bechdel Test, but with a large dose (some might say overdose) of humour.
Called the “Queen of Comedy” by The Toronto Sun, and compared to Agatha Christie by The Toronto Star, Melodie Campbell writes capers, heists and golden age mysteries. Winner of ten awards, including the Derringer and the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence, Melodie has 18 books and over 60 short stories, but she got her start writing stand-up. The Pharoah’s Curse Murders is her 20th book.
(She’s also one of Anne’s favorite authors. 🙂 )
BOOK OF THE WEEK
THE PHARAOH’S CURSE MURDERS
Series: A Merry Widow Murders Mystery, Book 3
Genre: Historical Mystery 1920s
Release: April 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Cormorant Books
It’s the winter of 1929, and Lady Lucy Revelstoke and her pickpocket-turned-maid, Elf, are back in the third installment of The Merry Widow Murders ― this time voyaging to Egypt. Lucy is particularly interested in the ancient sites, and Elf ― well, Elf is keen to find out how the tomb raiders mastered their trade!
The voyage should be a treat, as two rival teams of archeologists will give lectures while on route to their digs. Old-school Doctor Phineas King and his daughter, Isla, make up one team, while the other’s led by flamboyant, privately funded American adventurer Anton Margolis. Both teams seek to discover a prized tomb, despite local whispers of a curse that befalls upon all those who dare to disturb the pharaoh’s grave.
Soon, an archeologist drops dead at a cocktail party. Is this the work of the pharaoh’s curse, or someone with a personal motive? As accusations of antiquity smuggling come to light and a distraught clairvoyant predicts more violence, Lucy and Elf race to find the fiendish murderer before they strike again.
***
Featured Image: 1910 image of Agatha Christie as a Young Woman courtesy of Wikicommons
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