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.
Partly in order to escape the attention of numerous fortune-hunting 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 aim of visiting Palestine.
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.
With the introduction of the Manuscript H fragments in Seeing a Large Cat the reader is introduced to her family's loving perceptions of her, which includes recognition of her extraordinary stubbornness, and utter conviction that she is right, even when she contradicts herself in the assertion.
Amelia is also addicted to romance (although she denies it vehemently), much more sentimental than she admits to and, despite her disdain for weak-willed women who employ impractical fashion, vain enough to go to great lengths to color her graying hair and hide her efforts particularly from Emerson.
It contains: "Pistol and knife, canteen, bottle of brandy, candle and matches in a waterproof box, notebook and pencil, needle and thread, compass, scissors, first-aid kit and a coil of stout cord (useful for tying up captured enemies)."
(He Shall Thunder in the Sky, Chapter 2) Though she carries a small pistol, she is a terrible shot and rarely makes an effort to improve her skill, laughing off Emerson's suggestions that she could do more harm than good.
Unfortunately, on more than one occasion she has come close to harming a member of the family while wielding the pistol, rarely blaming herself for the near miss (e.g. her shooting at Ramses and an assailant in The Ape Who Guards the Balance).
Because her family is frequently involved in stopping criminal activity, and she has successfully deduced facts of numerous cases, she views herself as an expert in such matters, to the point of denigrating truly competent law enforcement officers.
Her conviction of British superiority in most everything is third, only behind her own self-confidence and her belief that Emerson is the “greatest Egyptologist of this or any age.” Amelia's age is initially given as 32 in Crocodile on the Sandbank, set in 1884.
In The Hippopotamus Pool, however, the Introduction contains what is supposed to be an excerpt from "The National Autobiographical Dictionary (45th edition)", in which Amelia herself states that she was her late twenties at the time of her first visit to Egypt.
In an interview with Diane Rehm, Peters discussed the correct pronunciation of "Peabody", which she had intended to be pronounced "PEA-buh-dee" (piːbʌdi) in the style of upper class English and New England society, not "pea-BOD-i" (piːbaːdiː).
[2] By contrast, in the audio versions of the books—including those recorded by voice actress Barbara Rosenblat, whom Peters has praised for her accurate pronunciation—Amelia's surname is pronounced "pea-BOD-i".