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[[File:Amelia peabody - crocodile.jpg|frame]]
'''Amelia Peabody''' and her husband Radcliffe Emerson are a [[Happily Married]] [[Battle Couple]] who are Victorian Egyptologists. Each is an [[Adventurer Archaeologist]] (subverted; they have plenty of adventures, but nothing but scorn for treasure-hunting-style archeology) and an [[Amateur Sleuth]]. They also exhibit the tropes [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]], [[Slap Slap Kiss]] (they are sparring partners as well as passionate lovers), [[Mama Bear]] and [[Papa Wolf]], [[Casual Danger Dialog]], [[Parasol of Pain]], and [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]] (the whole series is supposedly being extracted by an editor from Amelia's private journal and a "Manuscript H" giving a third-person account of the experiences of Ramses and occasionally Nefret; see below).
They also have a tendency to consider themselves [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right|above the law]], although mostly this only means they don't bother to call the police while battling criminals: they're administering justice as they see it, so why waste time talking to the police? (There's also the problem that the British police won't bother about Egyptian matters and the Egyptian police are often incapable.) Amelia, in fact, is generally scornful of cops, ignoring the fact that police must follow rules of evidence she doesn't consider binding on her. She frequently says [[Scotland Yard]] would solve more cases if a woman ran it -- not talking about getting ''both'' male and female perspectives, but about ''replacing'' the male way of thinking with the female.
The Amelia Peabody series starts in the [[Victorian Britain]] but runs through [[World War
* Their son, Walter "Ramses" Emerson, who appears in the second book as a [[Kid Detective]] which he remains until he's a [[Teen Genius]] (in both archeology and undercover work), going on to be a spy in WWI, then to marry Nefret Forth (see next) after a period as an [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]], passing through a [[Will They or Won't They?]] to emerge as a [[Victorious Childhood Friend]]. He and Nefret are [[Mindlink Mates]] and form a second [[Battle Couple]].
* Nefret Forth is the only child of an archeologist who died discovering a [[Lost World]] oasis where a remnant of ancient Egyptian civilization lingers. This was Peters' [[Shout
Each of these four main characters has an Egyptian nickname, bestowed on them by the locals, a particular interest within Egyptology, and an edge of some kind that makes them a bit super-normal:
* Amelia is "Sitt Hakim" ("Lady Doctor") (She is also called "Peabody" by her husband; she always calls him "Emerson." If he calls her Amelia, it means [[You Called Me "X" - It Must Be Serious|he's really angry with her]].) Her favorite topic is pyramids. Her edge is the dreams {{spoiler|of or from her dead friend Abdullah.}}
* Emerson is "Father of Curses," earned by his short temper and talent with Arabic invective. His favorite topics are tombs and temples. His edge is sheer strength and even more endurance.
* Ramses is "Brother of Demons" (Of course, "Ramses" is already a nickname; his real name is "Walter." His favorite topic is inscriptions and the study of the ancient Egyptian language. His edge is his extraordinarily sharp hearing and vision. "The Brother of Demons can hear a whisper across the Nile."
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* Nefret is "Nur Misur" ("Light of Egypt"), probably in tribute to the philanthropy she does. Her favorite topic is mummies, which chimes well with her medical degree. Her edge is a psychic link with Ramses that lets her know when he is in imminent danger; it also spills out into a general sympathy that lets her tame horses, dogs, and cats, feed sparrows from her hand at a cafe table, and may be another reason for her widespread popularity with the Egyptian poor.
There is quite a bit of [[Catch Phrase]] use, mostly from Amelia, who loves also aphorisms. Her favorites include "We must have a Council of War!" at least once a case, and frequent references to making or consulting "one of my little lists" of clues. She often has "the direst of forebodings" and the rest of the family sometimes use the phrase for their own misgivings, quoting her. "I suspected him from the start!" is another of her favorites -- Ramses once remarked that this was meaningless because she suspected ''everyone''. Perhaps the most often used is Amelia's claim, "I had, of course, considered that / thought of that / anticipated that" or the like. It runs neck-and-neck, though, with "another shirt ruined" (since Emerson and Ramses are both very hard on their clothes; in fact, there used to be a web-site for Amelia with that phrase as the title) and Abdullah's lament, "Every year, another dead body."
There are a great many repeating characters, including many historical archeologists. Among the important supporting characters are:
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# 1903-04, Seeing a Large Cat (1997)
# 1906-07, Valley of the Kings, The Ape Who Guards the Balance (1998)
# 1907-08, Guardian of the Horizon (2004, published out of sequence)
# Summer-Fall 1910, A River in the Sky (2010, published out of sequence)
# 1911-12, The Falcon at the Portal (1999)
# 1914-15, He Shall Thunder in the Sky (2000)
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# 1922-23, The Serpent on the Crown (2005)
# 1922-23, Tomb of the Golden Bird (2006)
# 1912, The Painted Queen (2017)
Sadly, Barbara Mertz (the author behind the "Elizabeth Peters" pen name) [[Author Existence Failure|passed away from cancer]] on August 8, 2013.
{{franchisetropes}}
* [[Action Mom]]: Amelia, as well as her daughter-in-law Nefret.
* [[Adventure Archaeologist]]: Both Amelia and Emerson, though in heavily subverted form. They despise the treasure-hunting kind of archaeologist.
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* [[Badass Grandpa]] (and Grandma): Amelia and Emerson, by the later books.
* [[Battle Butler]]: Gargary. The rest of the staff is pretty handy in a fight too.
* [[Canon Welding]]: With Peters' ''[[Vicky Bliss]]'' series (one of the characters in that series is descended from one of Ramses and Nefret's children).
* [[Cannot Spit It Out]]: Amelia's companion Evelyn and Emerson's brother Walter in ''Crocodile on the Sandbank.'' Amelia eventually gets so fed-up with both of them that she spits it out for Evelyn:
{{quote|
'''Walter''': You cannot mean...
'''Amelia''': Yes, you fool. She loves you. I don't know why, but she does. Now go and claim her. }}
** Not to mention Ramses, for almost ten years.
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* [[Child Prodigy]]: Ramses, to an insufferable degree.
* [[The Clan]]: The Peabody-Emersons, eventually. In the chronologically last book (so far), their friends the Vandergelt family become linked to them by marriage as well ({{spoiler|David's cousin Jumana agrees to marry Cyrus' adopted son Bertie}}).
* [[Covered in Mud]]: In ''The Curse of the Pharaohs'', Amelia's son Ramses interrupts a tea party after having gone digging in the compost heap and getting covered in mud (among other things). Ramses is described as not so much leaving muddy footprints as having a stream of filth trailing behind him.
* [[Cutlass Between the Teeth]]: Discussed; Amelia regrets that it's [[Reality Ensues|not actually possible]].
{{quote|
* [[Dead Person Conversation]]: Amelia has had at least one [[Talking in Your Dreams|dream-conversation]] with her deceased friend {{spoiler|Abdullah}} in each novel
** Emerson on one occasion dismissed these as nothing more than dreams, but the next words out of his mouth were [[Hypocritical Humor|asking if the dead friend]] [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|looked well -- that is, that he was enjoying his afterlife]].
* [[Disappeared Dad]]: And husband. {{spoiler|Sethos}} isn't very good at this kind of thing.
* [[Doomed by Canon]]: The benevolent conspiracy calling itself the "Sons of Abraham," in ''A River in the Sky''. Their goal is to find and/or build common ground and understanding between Arabs and Jews to prevent [[Arab-Israeli Conflict|conflict]].
* [[Downer Ending]]: Not usually, but ''Falcon at the Portal'' did not end on a happy note.
* [[Drives Like Crazy]]: Amelia and the Professor. To be fair, cars were a novelty at the time, and neither ever had any formal driver's training, but Nefret tried to give Amelia a lesson -- and later made excuses never to ride with her again. As for Emerson, his style of driving is basically "floor it and hit the horn a lot" (not a quote from the books, but accurate). When he's a passenger, he's likely to shout repeatedly (and with shocking profanity, if there's no woman present) for greater speed.
* [[Dude, She's Like, in
* [[Exact Words]]: All of the Emersons, especially Amelia, tend to use these rather than outright lies when dissembling (including to each other).
* [[The Exotic Detective]]: The basis of the series.
* [[Faking the Dead]]; {{spoiler|Sethos.}} ''Twice.''
{{quote|
* [[Flirty Stepsiblings]]: Ramses and Nefret.
* [[Friendly Enemy]]: After a certain point, Amelia and Sethos' relationship is mostly this. (Emerson isn't so complacent.)
* [[Genius Bruiser]]: Emerson, described by his wife as "Herculean" and also as "the greatest archeologist of this or any other age."
* [[Genre Savvy]]: By the second or third book, Abdullah is learning to be resigned to the fact that dead bodies ('''recently''' dead bodies, that is; murder victims) always show up around the Emersons' dig sites. A few books after ''that'', and everyone has picked up his "Every year, another dead body" line.
* [[Go
* [[Grammar Nazi]]: Amelia has tendencies in this direction, especially toward the more-casual Emerson. She'll also often reprimand even mild profanity: "Language, Emerson."
* [[Happily Married]]: Amelia and Emerson.
* [[Heel Face Turn]]: {{spoiler|Sethos}}.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Abdullah}}
* [[Hidden Depths]]: After a while, Amelia notices that [[The Spymaster]] Mr. "Smith" shows a few signs of a sense of humor, even when the joke is on him. There's also a scene at the end of the chronologically last book where he's discussing the schemers who're trying to start [[War for Fun and Profit]]; Emerson calls it "a damned depressing picture," and
{{quote|"I find it so," said Smith; and I saw a trace of emotion flicker across that masklike face.}}
* [[Historical Domain Character]]: The Emersons have several friends who fit this class. Howard Carter, who found the tomb of Tutankhamun, appears a lot, and T. E. Lawrence ([[Lawrence of Arabia]]) shows up at least twice. Emerson has a particular dislike for fellow Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, possibly because Petrie is the fellow who in Real History developed many of the archaeological principles and techniques Amelia credits Emerson with devising.
* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: At one point in ''The Last Camel Died at Noon'', Amelia pats herself on the back for nagging her husband into a certain course of action. When it goes badly a few pages later, she notes that if he'd listened to her, he would never have taken that course. Apparently, she forgot to [[Retcon|edit]] the relevant portion of [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|her journal]].
** Emerson does this all the time too. You'll lose track of how many times he tells someone (especially Amelia) not to lose their temper, despite the fact that his own has earned him the nickname "Father of Curses" and everyone in Egypt is afraid to cross him.
** Ramses chokes a bit when his mother has the gall to claim "I would never venture to urge a course of action on another individual, particularly in affairs of the heart." Most of the readers probably do, too. It's amazing lightning doesn't strike her for a lie that barefaced.
* [[Lady of Adventure]]: Amelia.
* [[Love Epiphany]]: When Nefret ''finally'' realized how she felt about Ramses, the sound she made is described as half squeak, half sob.
* [[Loyal Animal Companion]]: Bastet, for Ramses. She's also pretty intelligent for a cat. The announcement of her death at the beginning of one book, after she'd been with the family for five or six, caused Emerson to have a case of [[Sand in My Eyes]] even while he tried to dismiss her as "only a cat, you know."
* [[Master of Disguise]]: Sethos and Ramses both. Ramses, in fact, developed his own skill at disguise while still a young boy, after stealing one of Sethos' rather comprehensive makeup kits; for a while before puberty he was in the habit of disguising himself so convincingly as a girl that the Emersons' servants thought they were being haunted by a child's ghost.
* [[Mighty Whitey]]: Both used and subverted. Amelia and her husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren are all white, and regarded with awe, admiration, and dread by the Egyptians they work with, but one of the causes they champion is equal rights for Egyptians, and they cultivate some impressive Egyptian sidekicks (though none in their own league). In ''The Last Camel Died at Noon'', Amelia and family visit a [[Lost World]], where Amelia is irritated to discover that the heroic native prince believes in the Mighty Whitey trope.
* [[Mindlink Mates]]: Ramses and Nefret have a one-way link, whereby Nefret knows when Ramses is in imminent danger.
* [[Mr. Smith]]: A recurring character is a British spymaster who often goes by "Smith," partly because spies use pseudonyms and partly because it's so much easier than coping with his real name of "the Honorable Algernon Bracegirdle-Boisdragon."
* [[Narrative Profanity Filter]]: "Nefret pronounced a word of whose meaning I was entirely ignorant,..."
* [[Not Now, Kiddo]]: Happens to Ramses, particularly in ''Lion in the Valley''.
* [[Papa Wolf]]: Emerson. Shades into [[Overprotective Dad]] with regard to Nefret sometimes; not so much about sex as about shielding her from the world's ugliness. He'll say she shouldn't be '''permitted''' to examine a gruesome corpse, ignoring the fact that she's a fully trained doctor '''and''' would politely and lovingly tell him where to stuff his objections. At least once after marrying her, Ramses got a bit irritated by Emerson's attitude effectively implying that Ramses didn't do a proper job of looking after her
* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Ramses does this a lot as a child; he eventually grows out of it. Alas, his son inherits it.
* [[Spirited Young Lady]]: Amelia (loosely; she appears to have been in her late twenties or even her early thirties when the series begins). Later on, Nefret.
* [[They Do]]: Ramses and Nefret, eventually.
* [[Unto Us a Son
* [[Victorian London]]: The series starts in this period, but outlives it by quite a bit.
* [[When She Smiles|When He Laughs]]: Ramses, as far as women are concerned. Even his mother was a bit stunned by it. There's a scene, after Nefret {{spoiler|realized she loves him but while they're estranged}}, in which he laughs so hard he has to sit down; Amelia notices but doesn't recognize the significance that Nefret is totally focused on watching him.
* [[You Called Me "X" - It Must Be Serious]]: Amelia knows Emerson's really angry at her when he calls her "Amelia" rather than the usual "Peabody."
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Detective Literature]]
[[Category:Mystery Literature]]
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