Which J.K. Rowling novel is set mainly in the fictional town of Pagford?

The Casual Vacancy is the J.K. Rowling novel set mainly in the fictional town of Pagford.

Pagford is an apparently ordinary English community divided by class, politics, and arguments about public services. The story begins when parish councillor Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly. His vacant council seat triggers an election that brings private resentments and social inequalities into public view.

The novel was published in 2012 and was Rowling’s first book written for adults after the Harry Potter series. Its setting is invented, but its concerns are grounded in recognizable debates about local government, housing, addiction, education, and poverty.

Pagford should not be confused with Little Whinging, the fictional Surrey town where Harry Potter lives with the Dursleys. The Casual Vacancy is also separate from Rowling’s Cormoran Strike books, which are primarily set in London and use a detective framework rather than a local-election plot.