Which author wrote the 'Cadfael' series of historical mysteries?

Ellis Peters wrote the Cadfael series of historical mysteries. Ellis Peters was the pen name of Edith Pargeter, a Welsh author and linguist-scholar who set the stories in 12th-century Shrewsbury, England.

The central character, Brother Cadfael, is a Welsh Benedictine monk who entered religious life in his forties after serving as a soldier and sailor. His experience, knowledge of herbs, and practical understanding of people make him an unusually capable investigator. The novels unfold during the Anarchy, the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda.

The first novel, A Morbid Taste for Bones, appeared in 1977. Pargeter ultimately wrote 20 Cadfael novels through 1994, plus a short-story collection. Readers sometimes confuse Ellis Peters with Edith Pargeter, but both names refer to the same author; Ellis Peters is the canonical answer for the series.