What was the title of J.K. Rowling’s first published adult novel after Harry Potter?

The Casual Vacancy was J.K. Rowling’s first published adult novel after Harry Potter.

Published in 2012, the novel is set in the fictional English town of Pagford. The plot begins after the death of parish councillor Barry Fairbrother creates a casual vacancy on the local council. The resulting political contest exposes conflicts involving class, poverty, addiction, family life, and relationships between Pagford and the nearby Fields estate.

Unlike the Harry Potter books, The Casual Vacancy is a contemporary social novel with an adult readership and no magic. Its publication attracted enormous attention because it was Rowling’s first new novel after the conclusion of the Potter series.

It was adapted into a three-part BBC television miniseries in 2015. The book is also distinct from Rowling’s later crime novels, which she published under the name Robert Galbraith, beginning with The Cuckoo’s Calling.