LONDON — It may lack wizards and witches, but J.K. Rowling and her publisher are hoping her first novel for adults, “The Casual Vacancy,” will have the magic touch.

The book’s title was announced Thursday by Little, Brown & Co. along with a brief plot synopsis and publication date. The publisher said the “blackly comic” tale of rivalry and duplicity in a small English town would be available worldwide on Sept. 27.

The book will be Rowling’s first post-Potter effort. Her seven-volume saga about the adventures of a boy wizard became one of the most successful fictional series in history and led to a series of extremely popular films.

The new book, aimed at a grown-up audience, will be set in a seemingly idyllic English town called Pagford which is described as far more menacing than its pretty facade would indicate.

It opens with the sudden death of a popular man whose unexpected demise shocks the town. The battle for his seat on the local council sets off “the biggest war the town has yet seen,” with rich people fighting poor, parents battling their teenagers, and wives in conflict with their husbands.

The publisher said the 480-page novel will be sold as an e-book and audio download as well as in traditional hardback form.

The seven Harry Potter novels have sold 450 million copies.

Rowling’s final Potter offering, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” was published in 2007. She published a short Potter spin-off collection of stories, “The Tales Of Beedle The Bard,” in 2008.

Rowling said earlier this year she wanted to reach an adult audience, but kept the book’s name and publication date secret until Thursday.

In the past, many successful children’s writers have struggled to remake themselves as adult authors. Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne, a successful playwright in his early years, once confessed that he was forced to say “goodbye to all that” after his beloved books about the bear and friends. But Rowling has one advantage: the Potter books had a huge adult, as well as child, audience.

Jon Howells of British book store chain Waterstones said “The Casual Vacancy” would likely be the year’s best-selling novel.

Johansson still upset over photos

NEW YORK – Scarlett Johansson admits it still bothers her to think countless people have likely seen her naked.

The actress speaks out in the May issue of Vogue magazine about having her email hacked last year where private photos she took for ex-husband Ryan Reynolds were leaked online.

Johansson talks about going out to dinner and feeling “paranoid” that people in the restaurant had seen her body.

Still, she says she doesn’t want pity and has coped by “tuning it all out.” Because of that, she stopped following celebrity gossip and reading stories about herself.

She says she’s found that ignorance is bliss. She says she’s “way happier” and “more creative” now.

The May issue of Vogue goes on sale nationwide April 24.

Joel Grey parties late on his 80th

NEW YORK – Joel Grey partied into the night while celebrating his 80th birthday. The festivities began at curtain call at his Broadway show “Anything Goes,” when the cast wheeled out a big blue birthday cake.

Then stage and screen legend Bernadette Peters came out to lead the audience in a few celebratory verses of “Happy Birthday.””Eighty is the new 60,” Grey told the audience at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

Later in the evening the celebrations continued with a party at the McKittrick Hotel, the home of the immersive, genre-bending Chelsea show “Sleep No More.” Grey held court at its bar and also toasted the 40th anniversary of “Cabaret.”