Stephen Coulter is an English novelist, journalist, and, as James Mayo, the author of several spy and adventure thrillers.

His series character Charles Hood, a James Bond clone, is an art-loving British spy. Coulter was also friends with Bond creator Ian Fleming. Both men had served in Royal Navy Intelligence during World War II, became reporters, Reuters correspondants and both eventually wrote for the Sunday Times. Coulter helped Fleming with background details in the first Bond novel Casino Royale.