Starts with a death and ends with a funeral. (The Casual Vacancy book review)

Fortysomething  Pagford parish councilor, Barry Fairbrother passes away suddenly from an aneurysm.   Almost immediately, Pagford citizen's  begin to consider what the dead man’s empty seat means.  Some see it as opportunity for Pagford to finally rid itself of the Fields (a downscale neighbourhood), and a chance to shut down the local methadone clinic, used by numerous Fields residents.

The Casual Vacancy is riddled with racism, personal vendettas, corruption, whistle blowing and personal grudges that soon pushes the election into the backdrop and brings forth the hatred the villages of Pagford house for one another.  Teenagers are at war with their parents, neighbors are at war with each other, the haves are at war with the have nots.

The first hundred pages were hard for me, there are a lot of seemingly unrelated characters, and it felt like a lot of jumping around.  But by page two hundred, I was hooked! 

The Casual Vacancy is everything Harry Potter is not - drugs, swearing, self-harming, having casual sex, and singing along to Rihanna.  I still think its magical in its own way.