Morris West

The Devil's Advocate

JACKET NOTES:  In the bare, rocky desolation of Calabria in Southern Italy, a cult of sainthood has grown around Giacomo Nerone, a mysterious figure who appeared in the last years of World War II.
A dying English priest, Blaise Meredith, is dispatched from Rome as a canonical inquisitor, a Devil's Advocate, to investigate Nerone's sainthood. In Calabria, Meredith finds the three who hold the key to the case: the disillusioned Jewish idealist and doctor, the Madonna-like "whore of the Saint," and the rapacious English contessa. Each holds a vital piece of the puzzle surrounding Nerone's enigmatic life and suspicious death, but all are locked into a conspiracy of silence. No matter how determined they are, Meredith must discover the key to their hearts-not only to unveil the mystery of Nerone, but to reveal the meaning of his own life before it is extinguished.
(© Harper Paperbacks)