Bookstores are already taking pre-orders for what is certain to be the most buzzed-about book of the fall: J.K. Rowling's new novel, "The Casual Vacancy," which her publisher, Little, Brown, announced today will be released on Sept. 27.

Calling it "blackly comic" and "constantly surprising," Little, Brown said the novel will be simultaneously released as a hardback, an e-book, an audio download, and a book on CD. Rowling, of course, is the author of the Harry Potter series for young adults. "The Casual Vacancy" will be her first book for adults (though find me an adult who didn't also read Harry Potter).

Here's the publisher's synopsis of the plot:

The Casual Vacancy

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little 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.

Author J.K. Rowling

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?

Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults.