Carcione's debut  Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay established her as expert ghost , ghoul and vampire story teller. In Black Gables her talent for Gothic stories has come to the fore.

Rosella’s mother has lost her memory and her family have returned to Black Gables where she grew up in the hope something will stir her memory. But all is not right at Black Gables—in fact everything is wrong. The Head Teacher, Mr Edge is beyond sinister and he seems to be communicating with the lake ghouls. The school lies at the edge of a dark lake in the village of Black Gables where the hills are haunted by the curlew’s call. The school and village take their name from two looming black gables, all that’s left of an old workhouse where many died. The walls between the gables are all gone and the gables form a ghostly entrance to the school, standing there like the backs of two stone beasts, all bramble overgrown and the wind whistling through dead windows. And beyond is the Stygian lake with its strange waters that change colours.