''The Burden of Proof'' is a 1968

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

by the British writer James Barlow.

Synopsis

Vic Dakin a crime lord with a vast empire across

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

takes place on a raid on a wages van that goes wrong. Needing an

alibi An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...

he arranges to blackmail a corrupt MP with evidence of his sexual wrongdoing to give

perjured Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

testimony in court. However, the police are doggedly on Dakin's trail.

Adaptation

In 1971 it was adapted into the British film ''

Villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

'' directed by

Michael Tuchner Michael John Tuchner (24 June 1932 – 17 February 2017) was a British film and theatre director. Born in Berlin, to German-Jewish parents, he was seven years old when his family moved to Britain with the rise of the Nazis. He eventually re ...

and starring

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004 ...

and

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and ''Chariots of Fir ...

.Clinton p.229 As a tie-in with the film the novel was reissued with the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the t ...

''Villain''.

References

Bibliography

* Clinton, Franz Anthony. ''British Thrillers, 1950-1979: 845 Films of Suspense, Mystery, Murder and Espionage''. McFarland, 2020. * Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Turner, Alwyn W. ''Crisis? What Crisis?: Britain in the 1970s''. Aurum, 2009. 1968 British novels Novels set in London British crime novels Novels by James Barlow British novels adapted into films Hamish Hamilton books {{1960s-crime-novel-stub