Which adult fantasy novel did J.K. Rowling publish in 2012 under her own name?

J.K. Rowling published The Casual Vacancy in 2012 as her first novel for adults.

The novel is set in the fictional English village of Pagford after the sudden death of a parish councillor creates a vacancy on the local council. Its plot examines class, poverty, politics, family conflict, and tensions between residents of Pagford and the nearby Fields estate.

Unlike the Harry Potter novels, The Casual Vacancy is a contemporary social novel with no magic. It was published by Little, Brown and Company in the United Kingdom and the United States in September 2012.

The book is also distinct from Rowling’s later crime fiction, which she published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. That difference in genre and author name explains why readers sometimes group her post-Potter books together incorrectly.