Fleur Bradley had the idea of her latest book. She just was stuck on something: the setting.

So the Falcon-based author took a trip to a place where another writer once struck gold. At the famously spooky Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Bradley could see why it, famously, inspired Stephen King to pen “The Shining.”

“I didn’t see any ghosts, for what it’s worth,” Bradley said.

But she did go on one of the hotel’s nighttime walking tours, also known as ghost tours.

At the end of the tour, Bradley felt ready to start writing.

“I knew I wanted a cool Colorado setting,” she said. “After that, all the pieces just fell into place.”

The historic Stanley had the “classic” feeling that Bradley was looking for. She also liked the idea of the once-isolated nature of the hotel and how it might be tough for guests to, say, escape if they needed to.

“Back in the day, if the weather was bad, it would’ve been easy to get stuck there,” she said. “I thought that would add some tension to the story.”

With Stanley Hotel stories swirling in her head, Bradley started working on her latest young adult mystery novel. She made up her own hotel, called the Barclay Hotel, and a storyline full of twists that turned into “Midnight at the Barclay Hotel.”

Since its August release, the book has gotten high praise. It’s a finalist for the Agatha Awards and the Colorado Book Awards.

The book follows a young boy, JJ Jacobson, who convinces his mom to accept a surprise invitation to free weekend getaway at the Barclay Hotel. Here’s where things take a turn: “He thought he was in for a run-of-the-mill weekend ghost hunting at the most haunted spot in town,” reads the book’s online description.

“But when he arrives at the Barclay Hotel and his mother is blamed for the hotel owner’s death, he realizes his weekend is going to be anything but ordinary.”

Bradley described the book as “Agatha Christie for kids,” referring to one of her all-time favorite authors. She also says it has elements of a classic mystery, such as the movie or board game “Clue.”

Growing up in the Netherlands, Bradley found books more appealing than most thing.

“I was an enormously huge reader,” she said.

And that eventually led to a career in writing.

Bradley’s author journey started 20 years ago, when the military wife was a young mom used to moving around a lot.

“I needed something to do,” she said. “I wanted to have something for myself.”

She tried short stories for 10 years and wasn’t finding much of an audience. So she switched to writing mysteries, her favorite genre, for kids.

Bradley found success with the “Double Vision” trilogy, which was published via HarperCollins Children’s and which she calls “James Bond for kids.” Since those three books were set all over the world, Bradley decided to challenge herself by setting her next book in one spot.

“Part of it was an ode to Colorado,” she said. “Because I love Colorado.”

Readers will recognize nods to Colorado as well as the Stanley Hotel. In the book, that goes for a “lady in white” who is supposedly haunting the hotel. And it goes for the book cover, which shows a cartoon hotel that resembles the Stanley’s big front porch.

“If you’re driving up to it, it’s such a big and imposing building,” Bradley said. “it’s magical in its own way.”

She’s tried to bring that magic into “Midnight at Barclay Hotel.”

“What I tried to do is reflect my passion for mysteries,” Bradley said. “I’ve always loved the puzzle.”