The Devil’s Advocate, Morris West’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_West) best-selling novel of 1959, is a deft exploration of the meaning of faith. In an impoverished village in southern Italy, the life and death of Giacamo Nerone has inspired talk of sainthood. Father Blaise Meredith, a dying English priest, is sent from the Vatican to investigate — and to try to untangle the web of facts, rumours, and outright lies that surround Nerone’s life and death. With spiritual frailty as a backdrop, The Devil’s Advocate reminds us how the power of goodness can ultimately prevail over despair.
The novel was made into a 1977 film (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil%27s_Advocate_(1977_film), http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Devils-Advocate-John-Mills/dp/B000NORP8I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1387034282&sr=8-2&keywords=devil%27s+advocate+mills) by Guy Green with John Mills, Paola Pitagora, Stéphane Audran, Leigh Lawson, Jason Miller and Daniel Massey.
287 pages in Harper Collins paperback edition
ISBN 978-0006144601
Morris West