Five years after the final installment of the extraordinarily popular Harry Potter series hit the shelves, author J.K. Rowling made her debut into adult literature with the release of The Casual Vacancy.

Now, Rowling’s sordid window into the secrets, lies, and politics of a fictional English town has been transformed into a three-part miniseries by the BBC and HBO. The first segment will air in the United States on April 29.

HBO released a trailer last week that gives teasing glimpses into unraveling small-town relationships following an unexpected death. The appearance of a creepy website claiming to be run by the ghost of the deceased heightens the tension until members of the community start to crack.

Harry Potter fans may recognize Michael Gambon, who played Albus Dumbledore in all but the first two Harry Potter films, as one of The Casual Vacancy’s leading characters.

Screenwriter Sarah Phelps told Britain’s Radio Times that the series departs from the book in a number of ways, including changing the novel’s rather grim finish. “I was very straight with Jo [Rowling] and told her that I needed to write a different ending,” she said. “It’s still heartbreaking, but I had to find some kind of redemptive moment at the end of it all, that sense that after the tragedy, someone gets to stand with a slightly straighter back.”

Phelps continued, “It’s one thing adapting a writer who’s been dead for a century or so, but when you have a writer who is not only very much living and breathing but who is as phenomenally successful as JK Rowling, the dynamic is rather different.” Despite its author’s enduring popularity, the novel received only mediocre reviews following its highly anticipated release.

The Casual Vacancy miniseries already aired in Britain in February. In order to announce her support of the changes made in the adaptation, Rowling addressed her fans on Twitter: “To all asking whether I’ve seen the @BBC adaptation of #TheCasualVacancy, the answer is yes and I’m thrilled with it!” she wrote.