I was a good way through the game - got and done everything in Florence and I turn it on today and it shows no saved game. Anyone else had this happen or have any clever ideas to get it back. I have removed the hard drive put it back in etc.  - Any help?

I had this happen to me yesterday...I had to begin again today.  I was also in Florence so I was not pleased about it, I'm not sure what happened.  Unfortunately all I can do is commiserate with you.

It was assassinated. My condolences. 

" It was assassinated. My condolences.  "

I have run into this issue myself.  There's really no solution to the save game issue on the cloud end so my advice for now is to look for the local save files.  However here's the important part;  IF THE CHECKPOINT DIAMOND DOESN'T GO AWAY THAT MEANS THE GAME ISN'T SAVING PROPERLY.  This means that as soon as it outstays its welcome for say over 10 to 30 seconds, then whatever you do from what point will not be saved.  The best course of action is to then quit out as soon as you can from the whole (not just menu) and then restart to resume.
 
This was after a few hours researching this on Ubisoft forums and this is the solution. 

Sam thing happened to my Splinter Cell: Conviction save because I visited the Uplay store, maybe the same thing happened to you?