When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils … Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?

Being an ardent fan of the Harry Potter Series, I am always delighted to read J.K Rowling’s works. So I instantly picked this one as well.

This book primarily addresses some socially pertinent topics like vicious politics, bigotry, illegal drugs usage and physical abuses. The author has provided an uncompromised account of each of these, so obviously it is an intensely dark read.

J.K’s spectacular writing style is profound in this book too. Her personal trademark of detailed character description is brilliantly accomplished in this work as well.

Even though I didn’t enjoy the book at all. The author has dragged the plot unnecessarily, so it inevitably tends the reader to stop reading further. She has included so many irrelevant characters and subplots. I had been found this novel interesting from the end of the second last part. There are so many obnoxious remarks and abusive words used in this book, which made me uncomfortable while reading.

It isn’t a crime thriller, in fact; merely a story of people living in a place called ‘Pagford’. If you are intrigued to read this book, do not keep a sky-high expectation and never expect it to be like Harry Potter. I would recommend this book to readers over 16 years old.