The Witch Who Trades with Death

By: C.M. Alongi

Narrated by: Lucy Walker-Evans

A young witch forced to play concubine for her empirical captor, finally breaks free to find a life of her own, but even those with the power to call Death cannot outrun their past…

All witches must serve the cruel and immortal Emperor Yamueto. Upon discovery of her powers, Khana was ripped away from her desert home at fourteen years old and enslaved as a concubine. After years in service, her only friend in the palace is brutally murdered for supplying her forbidden birth-control, and Khana must make her escape. But not before accidentally discovering the secret of Yamueto’s power and immortality – he has been making deals with Death. And now, thanks to a twist of fate, so is she.

Armed with new magic that she doesn’t fully understand, Khana flees to a small mountain town. Although she tries to keep her identity a secret, Khana’s powers are soon discovered after rescuing a dying soldier. News of her abilities starts to spread, putting a giant target on her back. And Yamueto is not the forgiving kind.

Khana’s magic and courage are put to the ultimate test when she is finally forced to stop running and fight back. But every deal she makes with Death takes another piece of her soul, and there’s only so much that Khana can give before turning into the very monster she’s trying to destroy.

WARNING: This book contains references to violence, war, racism, xenophobia, sexual assault and domestic violence.

©2025 C.M. Alongi (P)2025 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

'I fell into The Witch who Trades with Death like a knife through butter – it gripped me from the very beginning and I was desperate to know when Khana would finally catch a break.' (Gemma Creffield, Senior Commissioning Editor at Angry Robot)

'C.M. Alongi’s The Witch who Trades with Death is tightly plotted and utterly immersive with characters and conflict that jump right off the page from the very first chapter. I couldn’t get enough of this book and Alongi’s cinematic storytelling.' (Lesley Sabga, The Seymour Agency)

amazing book small continuity error but that's it

I really really like this book it has nice piercing and relatable characters however there is a small continuity error where a character knows about the frog company before the company names are announced

Love it!

I found this author on TikTok through her Cafe Latte series. She is an awesome story teller. She does her research on any topic that might cause discomfort with people. She consults and has sensitivity readers. This author is awesome. Now for this book. I loved the story line She delved into many current social issues and her characters overcame many issues. I am horrible at reviews, but this book held me captivated. Just FYI, I am 56 yr old woman with varied tastes in literature. C.M. Along is great!!! Keep up the good work. Now, onto Citadel!

Everything

The detail and the way Khana’s trauma was portrayed was perfect. The story was amazing and the subplots were equally interesting. I had a lot of fun listening to this, feeling a lot for the characters. Perfect first listen.

I Love cana

I loved every second of the book my favorite part is how she keeps popping up after everything she's been through

Unique characters

A Great read! Such vivid imagery, you can feel with the characters. I enjoyed this book from start to finish.

i love the overarch of striving to overcoming your past

its a stand alone 😔 i would love more in this world! heres to hoping!

so I was in the fence

I love cafae latte but I wasn't sure if I was going to love her books...man I'm glad I took a chance since i loved this book so much!!

An Amazing Story

First off, the narration is impeccable. Lucy Walker-Evans did such a good job as narrator. She truly is a voice actor, unlike others who just read a book w/o putting any acting skills in it. She brought each character to life.

The story was so engaging - the characters felt fully fleshed out and real. The world-building was very well thought out - after listening 3 times, I haven't found any plotholes which is a rarity these days. You can tell Ms Alongi really took her time and put a lot of effort into creating a unique, but also familiar, world, and populated it with characters that were so much fun to read (and made the bad guys BAD).

I give the the story and narration 5 stars. Just an all out fun and engaging listen.

WORTH THR READ.

the story kept me on my toes and wanting to know what would happen to the characters next.

amazing writing

kept me riveted the entire time. fond the author on social media, very glad I did.