Amelia Peabody

Amelia Peabody Emerson is the protagonist of the Amelia Peabody series, a series of historical mystery novels written by author Elizabeth Peters (a pseudonym of Egyptologist Barbara Mertz, 1927–2013). Peabody is married to Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson and has one biological child, Walter "Ramses" Peabody Emerson.

Amelia Peabody is first introduced in the novel Crocodile on the Sandbank, set in 1884. She is the spinster daughter of a reclusive scholar who left her to deal with practical issues such as shopping and administering the household while he spent time in his office. He nurtured her scholarly interest, while the rest of her immediate family dismissed them both. Following his death, Peabody's devotion to her father was rewarded with her being named sole beneficiary of his substantial fortune of over £500,000 (over £30 million in 2006 values). Partly in order to escape the attention of numerous would-be suitors and relatives begging for money, she embarks on a tour of classical sites, beginning in Italy and moving on to Egypt with the eventual (unfulfilled) aim of visiting Palestine. While in Rome, she meets her future friend and companion, Evelyn Barton Forbes (later also to become her sister-in-law). In Egypt, the pair encounters the Emerson brothers, Radcliffe, an archaeologist, and Walter, a philologist. Over the course of the novel, Walter pursues Evelyn resulting in their engagement by the book's end—while less overt, the relationship between Amelia and Radcliffe develops toward their own marriage. In keeping with the egalitarian nature of their relationship, the two propose to each other, with Amelia teasing that she agreed because marriage to Emerson was the only way that she could engage in Egyptology without causing a scandal.

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