Interesting idea. The author should read a bit about biology and where our oxygen comes from. There certainly won't be any planets out there ready to settle with breathable air but without life. My guess is that blunder is the reason why you can read that book now for free.
Malcolm Sage is a pure geek but, paradoxically, loved by everyone. The collection of his cases is well written and presents a detective with a heart, even if he doesn't look like it. It's that what makes the book special among the mystery pulp of that time.
It looks as if this were a followup from a previous novel where the protagonist is introduced. Indeed, worldcat offers the title John Dene of Toronto : a comedy of Whitehall from the previous year. Let's hope we'll see this too on manybooks.
Wow, what pulp. Unusually for Rohmer, this time it's not The Yellow Peril(tm) that threatens The West, this time it's The Feminist Yellow Peril(tm).
and keep the secret of its ending! ... what nonsense, the culprits are obvious very soon, it's only the painted stupidity of the protagonist that holds the story for the second half of the book, contrary to what the other commenters say.